Naval chief oversees conduct of Exercise Seaspark 2024

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf on Thursday visited the naval ships at sea, creek areas on the coastal belt of Sindh and coastal areas of Balochistan to oversee the conduct of Exercise Seaspark 2024 and meet the troops deployed in the exercise, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

Exercise Seaspark 2024 is a major maritime exercise of Pakistan Navy which is regularly conducted after every two years on two-force concept, which includes Blue Force (own force) and Orange Force (enemy force).

The purpose of the exercise is to plan and conduct naval operations as per wartime procedures to check operational readiness, major mobilisation of personnel and practice coordination between various elements of Pakistan Navy to undertake complex operations.

During the operations at sea, Pakistan Navy warships and aircraft also detected Indian Navy ships, submarines and aircraft, attempting to covertly observe the exercise and interpret Pakistan Navy warplanes. Accordingly, necessary safeguards were taken by the Pakistan Navy.

During his visit at the Maritime Headquarters in Karachi, the naval chief was given a briefing by the Orange and Blue Naval Force commanders on the conduct of operations by respective forces.

The naval chief also visited Keti Bandar Post and Battalion Headquarters of Pak Marines at Shah Bandar, where he was briefed on combat readiness for the defence of creek areas which constitute the south eastern maritime boundary with India.

The naval chief interacted with troops deployed in difficult marshy areas and appreciated their devotion and high morale.

He also visited Jinnah Naval Base at Ormara and naval ships operating at sea and expressed his satisfaction on the professional excellence, high morale and perpetual readiness of Pakistan Navy to ensure impregnable maritime defence of motherland.

The naval chief reaffirmed the resolve of Pakistan Navy to safeguard national maritime interest.