A high-speed manoeuvre, a collision: How Pakistan Navy's PNS Hunain collided with Indian warship

A Pakistan Navy vessel collided with an Indian Navy warship in the North Arabian Sea on Tuesday evening after manoeuvring at high speed, sources said on Wednesday.

The incident took place in international waters and involved PNS Hunain (F-273), a Yarmook-class vessel.

Sources said the Pakistani ship returned to harbour after suffering severe damage.

The Indian warship was on a routine surveillance mission. No damage to the Indian vessel has been reported.

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What Happened In The Arabian Sea 

Sources said PNS Hunain "manoeuvred at a high speed in an unsafe and unprofessional manner" before colliding with the Indian Navy’s frontline warship.

"Even under extreme provocation by Pakistan side, the Indian navy captain exercised extreme restraint by taking actions to prevent a severe accident from taking place, which could have caused serious loss of lives and damage," the sources said.

The collision took place on the evening of September 15.

India summoned Pakistan's Charge d’Affaires in New Delhi on Wednesday and lodged a strong protest.

"The CDA was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs today and a strong protest was lodged with him over the unacceptable and unprofessional conduct of Pakistani naval units at sea that led to a collision with a unit of the Indian Navy," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The MEA said the incident did not cause any major damage but was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the April 1991 agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements.

The Pakistani diplomat was advised to convey to the authorities concerned the need for all military units to exercise due care and respect the provisions of relevant agreements to prevent a repeat of such incidents.

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What Is PNS Hunain?

PNS Hunain is one of the Pakistan Navy's newer multi-purpose offshore patrol vessels. It is based on Dutch shipbuilder Damen's OPV 2600 design. The vessel was built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. It was launched in September 2023 and commissioned in July 2024, according to information available on Damen's website.

PNS Hunain is the first vessel of Pakistan’s second batch of larger Yarmook-class vessels. Its sister ship is PNS Yamama (F-274). The vessel displaces about 2,600 tonnes and is 98 metres long, with a beam of roughly 14.4 metres. It has a range of about 6,000 nautical miles at 12 knots.

Damen's OPV 2600 design uses four 2,350 kW diesel engines driving two controllable-pitch propellers. It can reach speeds of about 24 knots.

Sources said PNS Hunain can reportedly carry anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles.