PNS Alamgir to participate in joint Turkish Navy exercise from today

Pakistan Navy ship, PNS Alamgir (FFG 260) with an embarked Z9 EC helicopter onboard, will visit Turkish Aksaz Naval Base Marmaris and Antalya harbour from November 6 to 15, and will participate in joint Turkish Navy exercise "Mavi Balina-14." Pakistan Navy P3C-Orion aircraft will also participate in the exercise from Dalaman Airbase, said a message received here on Wednesday.
Pakistan Navy is actively involved in maintaining peace and stability in the region - from Gulf of Aden to Gulf of Oman including North Arabian Sea. Pakistan Navy ships are vigorously operating and participating in all peace keeping missions. Pakistan Navy joined the Coalition Maritime Campaign Plan (CMCP) in 2003 and had so far commanded the Coalition Task Force-150 five times. Due to Pakistan Navy's proactive stance and operations, not a single terrorism related incident has occurred in its area of operation.
PNS Alamgir will stay at Aksaz Naval Base from November 6 to 9 and at Antalya from November 13 to 15. The vessel is a multi-mission frigate and embarks a Z9EC helicopter. Commanded by Captain Faisal Amin, PNS Alamgir is the third ship named as Alamgir. It was commissioned on August 31, 2010 at Mayport Florida USA. PNS Alamgir is part of 25th Destroyer Squadron of Pakistan Navy, it said.
Mavi Balina is evolving into a common forum for both Western and Eastern nations, to share, discuss and propose solutions for Collaborative Maritime Security which is one of the critical contemporary maritime challenges. PNS Alamgir's participation in this exercise will further strengthen existing bilateral relations of Pakistan Navy with the Turkish Navy and other participating navies. Reciprocatory visits of high level defence delegations, exchange training programmes and visits of naval units is a regular feature of Turkey-Pakistan defence relations. To further boost defence ties, Pakistan Navy is planning to organise the fifth multinational exercise AMAN-15 in February 2015 where more than 30 navies including Turkish are expected to participate.