KARACHI, Jan 22 PNS Shamsheer, the second Chinese-built F-22P sword class frigate, will reach here on Saturday after it was commissioned for Pakistan Navy at Shanghai last month, official sources said on Friday.

At the induction ceremony in Shanghai Chief of Naval staff Admiral Nauman Bashir had termed PNS Shamsheer “a very potent” addition to the Pakistan Navy fleet. He said that it would form the mainstay of Pakistan Navy surface assets with her other consorts.

PNS Shamsheer is the second in series of the four F-22P ships. The induction of these frigates would enhance the capability of Pakistan Navy not only in defending threat to its shores from the massive build-up in the region, but would also add to its capability in countering terrorism at sea, in league with the coalition navies, officials said.

Work on design and construction of the F-22P ships started in 2005 after signing of a contract between the ministry of defence production and the China Ship Trading Company (CSTC) for construction of three ships in China, they add.