KARACHI: Vice Admiral Syed Arifullah Hussaini took over as Commander Pakistan Fleet from Vice Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi at an impressive change of command ceremony held at the Pakistan Navy (PN) dockyard on Thursday.

The position makes Vice Admiral Hussaini operational in charge of all PN ships, submarines, missile boats and aviation units. At the change of command ceremony, he was presented with a guard of honour and introduced to the commanding officers of the various units.

Getting commissioned in June 1981, Vice Admiral Hussaini has a wide experience of command and staff appointments. These include commanding officer of various PN ships, commander Auxiliary and Mine Warfare Squadron, Pakistan Navy coastal commands and commander Karachi. His important staff appointments include assistant chief of naval staff (plans), deputy chief of naval staff (personnel) and naval secretary at naval headquarters. He also served as director general Joint Warfare & Training at the Joint Service Headquarters.

The admiral has attended many professional courses, including Military Staff College Course, from Command & Staff College Quetta, National Defence Course from Pakistan as well as China and the Surface Warfare Officers course from USA. In recognition of his meritorious services the officer has been decorated with Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) and Tamgha-e-Basalat.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of Pakistan Navy officers and sailors.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015