NEW DELHI: When 2600-tonne Pakistan warship PNS Hunain collided with Indian Navy’s 7400-tonne destroyer INS Kolkata, three times its weight, on Tuesday evening, the outcome was known as the Pakistani vessel was no match to India’s big warship. The Pakistan offshore vessel was severely damaged and had to return to the harbour whereas, Indian sources said, the Indian destroyer suffered no damage in the collision.In a statement on Thursday, Pak govt said its “Navy was undertaking its biennial exercise SEASPARK-26 when the Indian vessel carried out aggressive manoeuvres in dangerously close proximity to a Pakistani naval ship, resulting in contact between the two vessels”. Its foreign ministry, in a tit-for-tat reaction on Thursday, summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and lodged a strong protest.However, Indian defence sources told TOI that it was the “Pakistani ship that closed the Indian warship on a routine surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea at high speed, manoeuvring in an unprofessional and unsafe manner that led to the collision”.Visuals emerging showed PNS Hunain a huge dent on it and the warship had to be sent for repairs. PNS Hunain is aYarmook-class patrol vessel designed for maritime security, surveillance and limited combat capabilities. Commissioned in 2014, PNS Hunain is about 98 metres long.
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On the other hand, INS Kolkata is 164 metres long and has a maximum speed of 30 knots and is the lead ship of the indigenously designed and constructed Kolkata-class guided missile destroyers. It carries a heavy mix of surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, rapid-fire guns, and anti-submarine weapons like BrahMos missiles, Barak 8 missiles and close-in weapon system. For anti-submarine warfare, the Indian warship has torpedo launchers, rocket launchers and a bow-mounted sonar system.PNS Hunain would have sunk if INS Kolkata had taken offensive action. “However, despite extreme provocation, the captain of INS Kolkata “had exercised extreme restraint by taking actions to prevent a severe accident from taking place,” the source told TOI.
