KARACHI: The Prime Minister said that in highly competitive environment in global shipping, it had become imperative that the country’s ports kept pace with others to ensure its stay in the business of shipping.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of reconstructed three berths located at East Wharf of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and induction of two pusher tugs and a dredge tender in KPT fleet here on Saturday he said it was essential for the KPT to improve the quality of services at the port while handling the ships.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat ul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Khuhro, provincial ministers Pir Mazharul Haq and Manzoor Wasan were present on this occasion.
Gilani said shipping has traditionally been the backbone of economic activity of Pakistan. With the advent of globalization, its importance has increased manifold as shipping industry is continuously devising efficient ways to foster healthy competition in the spheres of production and transportation. The latest emerging trends of global maritime requirements have made it incumbent on Pakistan to explore ways aimed at improving productivity and services in terms of quality and economy, he added.
“The continuous movement forward in global shipping practices has made it imperative that our ports keep pace with the best in the field”, he said. Consequently, Karachi Port Trust considered it essential to expand the quality of port services in order to facilitate more number of ships. In this backdrop, the construction and operation of berths will help boost the regional economy and Karachi’s position as a shipping hub of the nation. These facilities will, undoubtedly, attract additional shipping carrying thousands of tons of cargo.
The Prime Minister expressed his happiness over the induction of state-of-the art powerful tugs acquired from the brotherly country, Turkey and said the Induction of these tugs will surely enable the port to handle even larger ships and facilitate modern and efficient means of cargo handling, which is an important component of competitive edge.
He said Karachi Port with its glorious past, a self sustaining existence and a promising future, is an icon for all Pakistanis.
He recalled that in 2009 he inaugurated the Pakistan Deep Water Container Port which is a mega project and will have the potential to accommodate deep draft mother ships. Various plans of KPT including the cargo village and harbour crossing bridge stand out as the hallmark and will carve out a modern trade handling infrastructure in Karachi. KPT is contributing to the city of Karachi through its civic responsibilities including construction of Jetties, Islands, other flyovers and road connectivity projects, he said.
Gilani said that the induction of state-of-the-art powerful tugs acquired from our brotherly country Turkey will surely enable it to handle even larger ships and facilitate economical means of trade. It is, indeed, heartening to witness the induction of two pusher tugs and a dredge tender built in Karachi Shipyard for KPT.
He said the present government, soon after assuming office, encouraged the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works to regain its potential. “Today I feel highly satisfied to see the progress being made by Karachi Shipyard” he said adding “These crafts are true reflection of our indigenous development capability which my government has always promoted and encouraged.
He also applauded the efforts of Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Baber Khan Ghouri in this regard.
The Federal Secretary for Ports and Shipping highlighted the importance of ports in Pakistan by saying that 97 percent of trade takes place through sea. He said that on the instructions of the Prime Minister, 30 percent port charges were reduced to make Pakistani ports compatible with the regional ones.
The Secretary said that they had adopted the Landlord Port Concept and consequently Pakistan Container Terminal, Karachi International Container Terminal and Cement Silos had been constructed at the cost of $195 million through private investment. Furthermore, the construction of Deep Water Container Port was under way at the cost of $1.6 billion on BOT basis in collaboration with Hutchison Port Holding and will be operational in March next year, the Secretary said.
The Secretary said that at present, KPT was currently reconstructing its Berths no 10 to 17 A in the East Wharf with an estimated cost of Rs. 5.5 billion. Out of the 5 under construction Berths, the first three Berths, 11, 12, and 13, have been completed the inauguration of which has taken place today. The remaining 2 Berths will become operational by the March next year, the Secretary said.
He also projected the importance of the Port Qasim, which had been providing modern facilities in the shipping field and which had attracted an investment of $900 million under Landlord Concept.
He said that 4 new terminals were expected to be completed by 2014 on BOT basis entailing investment of $500 million. The Secretary emphasized the role of the port in the growth of industrial estates around the port that would have direct bearings not only on the economy of the metropolis but also of the whole country.
He said that the Deep Water Port of Gawader had immense potential of becoming the shipping hub by providing an alternative to Gulf Ports and also a vital connectivity to China and the Central Asian Republics.
He said said that KPT and PNSC were the public sector organizations, which were earning profits and contributed huge amounts of taxes to the exchequer. He also appreciated the efforts of Minister Senator Baber Khan Ghouri, former Ministers Naveed Qamar, Qamar-uz-Zaman Kaira and Nabeel Gabol for the success achieved by KPT.
The KPT chairperson Ms Nasreen Haque, in her welcome speech said that the KPT, the mainstay of country’s imports and exports that for decades, remained the only access of maritime trade of the country. She informed the Prime Minister that the port is being developed to compete with world posts. “To meet the challenges of the shipping sector a number of operational and facility improvements are being made”, she added.
She said that commissioning of berths No 11, 12 and 13, induction of two powerful tugs and three floating crafts are being witnessed today while two more berths i.e. berth no 10 and 14 will be ready by April 2012 followed by five more berths for which award of contract is in process such would reap benefits such as reduction in average service time for cargo vessels, reducing waiting time, improving levels of service and the avoiding capital costs for port investments in other Pakistani ports. “On this occasion, the Chairman of the KPT presented a cheque of Rs. 10 million to the Prime Minister for the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund. “This would enable one half of the savings in vessel service time to be passed on to the Pakistani economy and the other half to the benefit of ship owners”, she said.
Another milestone is the ability of this port to handle vessels of 12.5 meters draft with a length of 305 meters, she said adding the first such vessel is due to dock Karachi Port on October 30, 2011.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2011
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