After a collision on Tuesday between Pakistan Navy and Indian Navy warships in the North Arabian Sea, detailed ship logs have now shown that there was zero evidence of mechanical failure aboard the PNS Hunain (F-273) before the naval incident.
Though the Indian Navy ship involved—and the personnel onboard—was not damaged, the incident triggered strong diplomatic tensions between the two nations, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) calling it an "unacceptable and unprofessional" incident, and lodging a protest with Islamabad's Charge d'Affaires (CDA).
The ship logs now rule out a sudden mechanical failure, steering malfunction, or emergency avoidance manoeuvre onboard the PNS Hunain that could have led to the incident, a News18 report said, citing Indian government sources.
This comes after the Yarmook-class corvette actively shadowed an Indian Navy vessel that had been deployed in the area for a routine surveillance mission.
This allegedly continued, despite multiple warnings from the Indian side via international maritime communication channels, such as Channel 16.
"The conduct of the Pakistani naval ship was in direct contravention of Article 10 of the Agreement between India and Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements of April 1991,” the MEA had said on Wednesday.
This agreement stipulates that naval vessels from both countries keep a distance of at least three nautical miles from each other to avoid accidents in international waters.
The report added that despite the warnings, the PNS Hunain suddenly accelerated, closing in at high speed from the starboard (right) side before executing a tight cut directly across the bow of the Indian warship—the point of collision.
Though reports say the incident has been categorised as a calculated, unprofessional act of aggressive manoeuvring, tensions remain only at the diplomatic level so far. Pakistan has yet to respond to the collision.
