KARACHI:An impressive ceremony of Pakistan Navy Coastal Command Annual Efficiency Competition Parade for the year 2019 was held at PNS QASIM, Karachi. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi graced the occasion as chief guest. He was received by Commander Coast Rear Admiral Faisal Rasul Lodhi.
The parade is conducted annually by Coastal Command of Pakistan Navy to mark the achievements of its operational year wherein efficiency shields are awarded to the selected Coastal Command Units based on their achievements in operational, administrative and extracurricular domains throughout the year.
Addressing the ceremony, Naval chief highlighted that Coastal Command of Pakistan Navy had been entrusted with the onerous task of safeguarding the Coastal Areas of the country from Sir Creek to Jiwani, under challenging internal and external security situation and harsh topographic environment. The Admiral while expressing satisfaction over operational readiness of Pakistan Navy, said that Pakistan Navy Coastal Command is fully geared up to tackle the challenges including security of CPEC project and operationalization of Gwadar Port.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Commander Coast Rear Admiral Faisal Rasul Lodhi presented the resume of Coastal Command’s operational activities undertaken during the year 2019 encompassing multidimensional events related to combat readiness particularly during Post-Pulwama military stand-off. He further highlighted that in addition to successfully accomplishing operational, administrative and welfare projects during the year, Coastal Command also completed several projects related to socio-economic uplift of local populace of coastal areas especially in the domains of education and health.
Later, Chief of the Naval Staff gave away efficiency shields to the Winners and Runners-up units in each category. The ceremony was attended by a large number of senior serving and retired Naval Officers, CPOs/Sailors and civilians of Pakistan Navy.