The launching ceremony of state-of-the-art 2300 Tons Offshore Patrol Vessel-II, being built for Pakistan Navy, was held at M/s DAMEN Shipyard Galati, Romania. Chief of Staff (Personnel) Vice Admiral Ather Mukhtar, who graced the ceremony as chief guest, speaking on the occasion underscored the importance of corvettes in the maritime domain. He said that these platforms would act as force multipliers in enhancing the navy’s capability of safeguarding maritime frontiers and would offer more flexibility in the conduct of Pakistan Navy’s initiative of independent Regional Maritime Security Patrols in the Indian Ocean Region. Vice Admiral Ather Mukhtar also lauded the professionalism of M/s DAMEN Shipyards and cooperation in delivering cutting edge technologies to Pakistan Navy in the form of Corvettes. Corvettes are multi-purpose platforms of medium size and tonnage. Signing of contract for construction of two Corvettes for Pakistan Navy was held in 2017. The launching ceremony was also attended by Chief Naval Overseer (Romania), senior management of M/s DAMEN Shipyards, Gorinchem & Galati and officials of Ministry of Defence Production and Pakistan Navy.