PNS Hunain of Pakistan Navy Severely Damaged After Colliding With Kolkata-Class Indian Destroyer
Pakistan’s PNS Hunain collided with a Kolkata-class Indian destroyer in the North Arabian Sea and suffered severe damage and returned. The Indian ship stayed on duty. The piece also covers the 1991 three-mile rule, the 2011 Gulf of Aden precedent, and why safe distance matters.
DEFENCE ANALYSIS
New Delhi: On Tuesday evening, Pakistan Navy ship PNS Hunain collided with a Kolkata-class Indian Navy destroyer in the North Arabian Sea. The Pakistani ship suffered severe damage and went back to harbour. The Indian destroyer is still at sea and still working. The collision has not affected it.
Where the ships collided
The collision happened near Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. That zone is not Pakistan’s private sea. Other countries’ warships and cargo ships can pass through it. The Kolkata-class destroyer was on duty about 120 nautical miles from the Gulf of Oman. Its job was to escort ships coming from that side.
Pakistan was holding a naval exercise called Seaspark-26. An exercise does not close the sea. Only a live-firing area is a no-go zone. This place was not one.
How the collision happened
Indian sources say PNS Hunain (F-273) came towards the Kolkata-class destroyer at high speed. It looked like the Pakistani ship wanted to stop the Indian ship or follow it too closely. The Indian captain saw this and gave warnings. Hunain still came in close, tried a sharp turn, and collided with the right side of the Indian destroyer.
Sources say the Pakistani ship was going too fast and could not turn away in time. The collision was due to poor handling, not a sudden engine failure.
This also broke a 1991 India-Pakistan rule. That rule says ships of both navies must stay at least three nautical miles apart in international waters. Hunain did not keep that gap.
Severe damage on the Pakistani ship
Hunain took the hit on its front. Indian sources say the damage is severe: a huge dent on the front arch and a possible crack in the hull. The ship could not stay at sea. It has returned to harbour for repairs.
The Kolkata-class destroyer got no major damage. Its crew is safe. Its engines, weapons and systems are working. It stayed on duty and kept escorting ships from the Gulf of Oman. The Indian ship is still operational. The collision has had no effect on it.
India’s protest
On Wednesday, India’s foreign ministry called in Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires. India said the Pakistani ship’s conduct was “unacceptable and unprofessional.” It also said Pakistan broke the 1991 three-mile rule. India told Pakistan to keep its ships careful and follow the agreement. India’s diplomat in Islamabad was told to give the same protest there.
What Pakistan is saying
Pakistan then called in India’s diplomat. It said the Indian ship made “highly provocative” moves inside Pakistan’s EEZ during Seaspark-26 and caused the collision. Pakistani media named the Indian ship as INS Kolkata and said it sped away after the hit.
Indian sources say this is not true. An EEZ does not give Pakistan the right to block other navies. The Kolkata-class destroyer did not run away. It stayed on duty. The ship that left with severe damage and went to harbour was Hunain.
Why the three-mile rule exists
Article 10 of the 1991 pact is not about friendship. It assumes the two navies will keep facing each other and still need a buffer. Three nautical miles gives time to see what the other ship is doing, send a radio warning, and change course before steel hits steel. Close that gap suddenly, and that time is gone. That is risky between two nuclear-armed states.
This is not the first such scrape. In 2011, INS Godavari and PNS Babur came too close in the Gulf of Aden. India said Babur closed in unsafely and broke the same rule. Pakistan said Godavari had come in the way of a Pakistani operation linked to the hijacked ship MV Suez. The accounts differed then, as they do now. The useful test stays the same: did the ship keep a safe speed, keep distance, answer warnings, and follow the pact it signed?
Pakistan has ratified UNCLOS and follows key IMO safety rules. The charge here is narrower. On Tuesday, Hunain did not hold the agreed gap.
Why Pakistan’s EEZ argument is weak
An EEZ gives a country rights over fish, oil and the seabed. It does not let that country treat the water as a closed military area. Ships can still pass. A naval exercise does not change that, unless a live-firing danger zone is clearly announced. That was not done here.
About PNS Hunain
Hunain is a Yarmook-class offshore patrol vessel. It is the third ship of this type and the first built on Damen’s larger OPV 2600 design. It was built in Romania and joined the Pakistan Navy in July 2024. It is about 98 metres long.
It can carry a helicopter and drones, plus small boats. It has electronic warfare systems, anti-ship and anti-air weapons, sensors and a last-line defence gun. Four Caterpillar engines, a bow thruster and two propellers take it to about 22 knots. It holds about 300 cubic metres of fuel. It can sail about 6,000 nautical miles and stay out for up to 40 days. It has a crew of 60.
Its weapons include 30-mm and 12.7-mm remote guns, anti-ship missiles and a 20-mm close-in gun. The first two ships in this class, Yarmook and Tabuk, are smaller — about five metres shorter and 600 tonnes lighter.
It is a modern patrol ship. It is still much smaller than a Kolkata-class destroyer. On Tuesday it came in too close, collided, and came off with severe damage.
The simple point
A navy is judged not only by weapons, but by how it moves at sea. The Indian side gave warnings and stayed on task. Pakistan’s ship came in too fast, broke the three-mile rule, collided with a Kolkata-class destroyer, and had to go home with a badly damaged bow.
One ship is in harbour with severe damage. The Kolkata-class destroyer is still at sea, fully operational, with no effect from the collision.