KARACHI: Keel Laying Ceremony of Fast Attack Craft (Missile) No. 4 being built for Pakistan Navy, was held at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) today. Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah Chief of the Naval Staff was the Chief Guest at the occasion.
Fast Attack Craft (Missile) is a state of the art, multi mission
vessel with a steel hull and aluminum super structure and equipped with indigenously developed weapons and sensors.
While speaking on the occasion, the Naval Chief highly appreciated the achievement of
this important milestone ahead of schedule. He said that the indigenous construction of
this craft is a giant leap towards self reliance as the construction of
this war ship will not only open new avenues of design and ship-building but also accelerate our progress towards achieving the goal of indigenization. This project once completed, will demonstrate Maritime Technologies Complex and Karachi Shipyard’s design and construction capability in entirety. While highlighting geo-strategic
and socio-economic significance of CPEC the Naval Chief said that the trade activities are poised to increase manifold with the developments taking place on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project which has the potential to transform Pakistan into a regional economic hub. This would place addi
tional premium on the responsibilities of Pakistan Navy to ensure safe and secure maritime environment for uninterrupted maritime activities to take place. FAC (M)-4 will add to Pakistan Navy’s opera
tional capability upon its induction. He also assured PN’s all possible support to KS&EW to make
this strategic setup in transforming as a vibrant, productive and strategic element of the maritime sector. He further said that we are pursuing establishment of new shipyards with Government to further boost our ship-building industry.
Earlier Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah MD KS&EW in his welcome address said that
this project being the first indigenous design is a result of strenuous hard work by Karachi Shipyard and Maritime Technologies Complex, which gave enough confidence to undertake such a challenging project. He also highlighted that the ship will serve our country f
or decades as na
tional symbol of our indigenous efforts. He gave a brief outlook of ongoing projects which included PN Fleet Tanker, FAC(M) No. 3, MPVs for PMSA, Bollard Pull Tugs, Multi Purpose Barge and Bridge Erection Boats to Pak Army. He also highlighted KS&EW’s future plans and said that we have started preparation for mega project of construction of submarines for PN.
MD KS&EW thanked Ministry of Defence Production, especially Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zakaullah for his visionary approach
and solid support behind all projects. The ceremony was attended by high ranking officials from GoP, Pakistan Navy, corporate sector and KS&EW.
