UNIPATH STAFF
Broadening its deployments to include the Red and Mediterranean seas, the Pakistan Navy guided missile frigate PNS Zulfiquar called on the Jordanian Port of Aqaba in late 2020.
The warship’s visit was meant to emphasize the Pakistan Navy’s contribution to regional peace and maritime security. It has been a steadfast participant in U.S.-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) based in Bahrain.
Among the ship’s previous missions were counterpiracy operations near Somalia as part of Combined Task Force 151 and drug smuggling interdictions in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea as part of Combined Task Force 150.
The task forces — and a third one in the Arabian Gulf called Combined Task Force 152 — are part of CMF.
As part of its stop in Jordan, PNS Zulfiquar’s commanding officer met Royal Jordanian Naval Forces Commander Col. Hisham Al-Jarrah. Col. Al-Jarrah returned the favor by attending the Pakistani-led naval exercise AMAN-21 in Karachi in February 2021.
PNS Zulfiquar would later sail to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to participate in a naval exercise led by Turkey, but before leaving Aqaba it conducted drills with Jordanian naval vessels.
The training, which took place in Jordanian territorial waters, engaged Jordanian fast attack craft Al Hassan and several coastal patrol boats.
Sources: Inter-Services Public Relations (Pakistan), Combined Maritime Forces