The Pakistan Navy has taken possession of its second OPV 2600 offshore patrol vessel from Damen Shipyards Group.
The vessel, the PNS Yamama, is the second OPV 2600 the Navy has gained in 2024, following the delivery of the PNS Hunain in July.
The handover ceremony for the PNS Yamama took place on 17 December at Constanta in Romania, and each of the vessels in the class is estimated by Shephard Defence Insight to have cost US$225 million.
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The OPV 2600s can undertake sustained operations in contested environments. Each of them has been designed to be multi-mission capable, and the Yamama will support missions including border surveillance, counterpiracy and anti-smuggling operations, as well as an ongoing campaign against drug and weapons trafficking.
With a top speed of 24 knots, the Yamama, alongside the Hunain, will be able to routinely operate in anything up to World Meteorological Organization sea state 6 (defined as “very rough”).
In fact, the OPV 2600 has been tolerance-checked up to sea state 9 (defined as “phenomenal”, which translates to waves of over 16 meters in height).
It can do that thanks to the active fin stabilising system that was a selling-point of the OPV 2600 model. Nevertheless, the Pakistan Navy was keen to explain that the OPV vessels, while multifunctional, would not be suitable for deployment in any active war.
Damen has significant history with the Pakistan Navy, having previously constructed the Navy’s two Yarmook-class vessels, based on the Damen OPV 2200, in 2020.
There were only intended to be two vessels of the OPV 2600 class in the Pakistan Navy, so the class should now be complete.
However, the delivery of the Yamama follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Pakistan Navy and Damen during the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) in Karachi in November.
That MoU adds weight to the words of Vice Admiral Muhammad Faisal Abbasi at the Yamama’s handover ceremony. He said:
“I am confident that the collaboration between the Pakistan Navy and Damen will further extend to new avenues for shared gains.”
The Indian Navy has three major programmes expected to advance in 2025, including the Project 17B frigate programme, but as yet, no plans have been announced for the form any further collaboration between the Navy and Damen might take.