Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz patronized the inauguration ceremony of the HMS Jazan ship at King Faisal Naval Base of the Western Fleet in Jeddah Governorate on Monday.

The ship is the fourth in the “Sarawat” project, and the first ship in the project to be completely constructed and undergo acceptance tests on Saudi lands and waters, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Upon his arrival at King Faisal Naval Base to attend the inauguration, the Minister of Defense was received by Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, and Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces Lieutenant General Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghafili. The Royal Anthem was played, and the ceremony began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.

Permission was requested from the Minister of Defense to raise the Saudi flag, then he ascended the ship’s flight deck and raised the Kingdom’s flag, marking its entry into service in the naval forces. Then the ship's radars and whistles, and the whistles of other ships, began to operate as a sign to welcome its entrance to service as the fourth ship of the Sarawat Project.

The Defense Minister toured the command tower and wrote a note in the ship’s historical record. A group photo was taken of him with the ship’s crew. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces presented a souvenir to Minister of Defense on this occasion.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Assistant Minister of Defense for Executive Affairs, Dr. Khalid bin Hussein Al-Bayari; the Director General of the Minister of Defense's Office Hisham bin Abdulaziz bin Saif; the CEO of the Saudi Arabian Military Industries Company (SAMI), Eng. Walid bin Abdulmajeed Abukhaled; and senior civilian and military officials.