A PAKISTANI Naval officer coordinates security arrangements onboard the stern of the British-made Pakistan Navy vessel Babur while docked in Manila Sunday. Temporarily converted into a reception area for the ship’s visitors, the ship’s stern serves as a helipad for a French-made helicopter whose rear part is shown in the center of the photo. After leaving the Philippines Tuesday, the Pakistani navy’s flagship vessel will be heading for China as part of its goodwill tour of Asia. --ROY DOMINGO

AFTER arriving Saturday at the Manila South Harbor, two Pakistan Navy ships (PNS) one of which was refitted in the Philippines—will be departing for China Tuesday as part of its goodwill tour to various Asian countries.

Upon completing its China visit, the two ships—the PNS Moawin and the PNS Babur—will be heading for Japan and Vietnam, according to a Pakistani Navy officer.

In a statement issued by the Pakistan Embassy in Manila, the visit intends “to further strengthen the existing friendly ties with the Philippines, a founding member of the Asean [Association of South East Asian Nations].”

Besides “sharing the desire to have fair trade terms in the international markets and improve the living standards of their peoples,” the same statement said that the naval armed forces of both countries have also held joint exercises allowing them to “enhance interoperability.”

Since both nations are active supporters of the American-led global war on terrorism, the Philippines and Pakistan also coordinate with one another at the Asean Regional Forum. Established in 1994, the ARF, the primary venue for security dialogue in Asia, involves 23 countries including the 10 nations, which comprise the Asean.

Prior to Manila, the PNS Moawin, a vessel built in Holland but refitted in the Philippines, came from Brunei.

Designed as a combat support ship to replenish the fleet at high seas, the vessel, when it was under the Dutch Navy, participated in numerous exercises held by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Recommissioned for the Pakistan Navy in July 1994, the ship was among the first to reach tsunami victims of Sri Lanka and Indonesia in December 2004.

Meanwhile, the British-made PNS Babur came from Singapore, where an international maritime defense exposition was held immediately before arriving in Manila.

Commissioned into the Pakistan Navy in September 1993, the Babur previously saw action under the British naval command during the Falklands War in the early ’80s.  

The current vessel, named after an Indian emperor, is the third such ship named PNS Babur, which is traditionally Pakistan’s Navy flagship.  

THE Japanese government will be donating equipment to the Philippines which will be used to scan shipments transported through the country’s major airports.

AFTER arriving Saturday at the Manila South Harbor, two Pakistan Navy ships (PNS) one of which was refitted in the Philippines—will be departing for China Tuesday as part of its goodwill tour to various Asian countries.

JAKARTA—PT Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia’s biggest shipping company by market value, may acquire a company in Europe to expand its fleet and move into markets outside Asia.