Behr Paima () is a hydrographic survey and

Research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

owned by

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was laid on 16 February 1982 and was launched on 7 July 1982 in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The ship was handed over to

on 27 December, same year. The ship was equipped with most modern surveying systems of the time. The hydrographic systems have been upgraded since then from time to time and hence are parallel with modern trends and techniques available in the

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

. Most of the oceanographic equipments are, however, of the original outfit.

Design and development

The initial conceptual work of Behr Paima was started in Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( PCSIR) when the PCSIR scientists independently started the work in the PCSIR Karachi Laboratories. The project was financed by the Government of Japan and the vessel was constructed in Japan. The ship was launched in 1982 and later handed over to the Pakistan Navy in December 1982. The first commanding officer of the ship was Commander Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi(Hydrographer), who sailed the ship all the way from Japan to Pakistan, extensive trials of the ship were conducted in Japan by Commander Abbasi and his team of highly qualified surveyors. Its induction gave Pakistan not only technological edge in the region, such as forecasting accurately weather, storms, and until today saving hundreds and thousands of lives both on shore and on sea before any major disaster could occur. The ship also helped Pakistan to survey its sea as an independent and sovereign country and not dependent on any other foreign country to conduct survey for us, who would censor any important, sensitive information vital for Pakistan but due to Commander Abbasi's hard work at that time, who trained highly qualified surveyors for Pakistan and acquired modern technology, Pakistan was able to actively keep a vigilant eye on Indian Navy aggression in the region too and at the same time offer Survey services to the neighbouring countries with full confidence. Pakistani nation today is saving billions of rupees since then that could have been paid to foreign organizations. The ship has the capability to survey the sea bed and gather vital information for ships, but also to locate the mineral resources, such as oil, gas, etc....The ship is guarding the sea frontiers of Pakistan day and night against any future aggression from India.

Instruments and equipment

The vessel has six deck winches and three laboratories equipped with a range of survey equipments and instruments. Hydrographic equipment includes variety of Differential Global Positioning System,

Electronic Chart Display and Information System An electronic navigational chart (ENC) is an official database created by a national hydrographic office for use with an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). ECDIS and ENCs are the primary means of electronic navigation on c ...

Microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

Positioning systems, Dual Frequency Echo Sounders, Multibeam and Side Scan

Sonars Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

, Radio Tide Gauges, Profilers, Current Meters, CTD and Hydrographic data acquisition and processing software. Additionally there are

Oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

and

Geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

research instruments. There are two Survey Boats equipped with DGPS and survey equipment to facilitate the surveying of shallow and

inshore A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

waters.

Survey work

The ship, since its induction, has carried-out extensive survey of Pakistan's

coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

areas on different scales. The ship partially surveyed the south-eastern sea-front of Pakistan that comprises

Indus River Delta The Indus River Delta forms where the Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, mostly in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan with a small portion in the Kutch Region of India. The delta covers an area of about , and is approximately across ...

creeks. However, sea area west and south of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

has been thoroughly surveyed. The ship also provided valuable data for building of Jinnah Naval Base channel in

Ormara Ormara ( Balochi and , ), is a town and tehsil in Gwadar District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is a port in the Makran coastal region. It is located west of Karachi and east of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. This port is also menti ...

. Pakistan’s

deep water port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...

was also planned based on data rendered by the ship. The corresponding series of charts on different scales have been published for the entire coast of Pakistan based on ships surveyed data. The ship has also conducted

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

surveys, wreck search, north markings, tidal data collections, and detached surveys etc.

References

External links

Pakistan Navy Hydrographic Department

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behr Paima, PNS Ships of the Pakistan Navy Research vessels of Pakistan 1982 ships Post–Cold War military equipment of Pakistan History of science and technology in Pakistan Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Japan–Pakistan relations

Design and development

Instruments and equipment

Survey work

See also

References

External links