Pakistani navy ship docks in Yangon on goodwill visit

12 March 2015
Pakistani navy ship docks in Yangon on goodwill visit
PNS Zulfiquar, a Pakistan Navy frigate, seen here on a goodwill visit to Port Klang, Malaysia, in August 2009. Photo: Wikipedia

A Pakistani navy ship named “PNS Zulfiquar”, commanded by Captain Amir Mahmood, paid a goodwill visit to Myanmar on March 10.
The objective of the trip was to promote military ties between the armed forces of Myanmar and Pakistan, and to strengthen the long-standing friendship between the two countries.
The ship manned by 28 officers and 275 crew docked at Myanmar International Terminal Thilawa (MITT), 25 kilometres south of Yangon, from March 10 to 13.
During the four-day visit, the commanding officer and crew will meet with Myanmar officers and they visit Myanmar’s naval facilities.
During the visit, aimed to help develop bilateral social ties, the Pakistani officers and crew will donate blood to Myanmar’s National Blood Donation Bank, and visit a high school to give presents to the students.
The Pakistani crew and a Myanmar naval crew will play a friendly volleyball match.
The “PNS Zulfiquar” is the first ship of the Sword Class F-22P Frigate Project. The Chinese-made frigate is the lead ship of her class, officially inducted into the Pakistan naval fleet in 2009.
The ship was attacked and briefly captured by Al Qaeda militants and rogue Pakistani naval officers in September 2014, then recaptured by Pakistani forces, according to media reports. The attackers had intended to use the ship and its anti-ship missiles to attack the US Navy Fleet in the Arabian Sea. Ten of the attackers were killed in the operation to retake the ship.
The raid raised fears about terrorist infiltration of the nuclear-armed nation’s military forces, according to the media.