Cabinet has been asked to approve scheme: PQA plans to deepen port’s draft, widen its navigational channel

KARACHI: Chairman of the Port Qasim Authority Rear Admiral (retd) Syed Hasan Nasir Shah said on Wednesday that PQA is pursuing a ‘grand development plan’ for deepening the port’s draft and widening its navigational channel.

With improvement in the channel’s draft, deep-draft vessels will be able to visit Port Qasim (PQ), resulting in savings in foreign exchange on account of freight.

Talking to Business Recorder on the sidelines of the launch of Maersk’s flagship ‘Integrated Logistics Park’ in the PQA’s North Western Industrial Zone, he said: “We are planning to deepen its draft by 1.5 metres to around 15 metres, and widen the navigational channel to 250 metres from the existing 200 metres.”

The PQA chairman said that the federal cabinet has already been requested for approving the plan. Once the project is kicked off, it will be completed within a period of 18 months and then deeper ships will be allowed to call at PQ, with widened navigational channels.

“Currently, we only allow ships with 13 metres draft, and there has been a lot of complaints by the stakeholders that we should go deep, because... then the larger ships can be called,” he said.

Earlier, speaking also at the launching ceremony of Maersk’s ‘Integrated Logistics Park’ as the chief guest, he touched upon the issue, saying the size of its navigational channel was one of the major problems the port has been facing for years.

“Our navigational channel is 49kms, which is the longest in Pakistan. Our stakeholders complain and say to us that we should go deep because the deeper it goes, the larger deep-draft ships can come calling. But this requires huge investment from us. A few years back, we were not really that financially stable, but we are now,” said Rear Admiral Shah.

“We can arrange finances on our own; however, foreign exchange is another bigger handicap,” he said. “Therefore, we are requesting our partners to come, help us and find some kind of investment financing for this project.”

Port Qasim is the largest industrial zone in the country. Within the industrial zone, a few problem areas are there, such as the textile city. “I have been fighting for the last three years for the resolution of this issue. We have been successful in that the federal cabinet has advised us to cancel the lease and transfer this land to PQA. This is also on the agenda of the cabinet; hope this will soon be resolved,” he said.

The PQA will be having a state-of-the-art industrial park, a special economic zone. “We don’t have a combined treatment plant in the PQA,” the chairman said. “The good news is, some Rs5 billion has been approved and contract is going to be signed in just two months, and bids are coming in.”

Along with this, bids for dualisation of the main access road from the junction to Ghaghar Phatak will be converted into international standard Expressway, which will resolve the traffic issue for the next 25 years.

While sharing the progress made on other development plans, he said: “We have recently completed all utilities and services in the North and South zones of PQ. A consultant has been hired for completion of the remaining utilities and services in the Eastern Zone, which is 50 percent developed... The government has already given us a go-ahead,” the PQA chairman said.

“Port Qasim is now the leading port of Pakistan. It is making news on the world stage,” he said. “We got established because of the Pakistan Steel Mills in 1973, but unfortunately PSM is out of business.”

Rear Admiral Shah said that Port Qasim has taken off in the last four to five years. Its revenues have touched the highest level, and most importantly “we stand at the 81st (position) out of a total of 370 container ports in the world, as per the World Bank ranking”.

“But, the big deal is we jumped 236 places last year and we will further improve our Container Port Performance Index this year,” he said.

On the occasion, Hasan Faraz, the managing director of Maersk Pakistan, said: “Our aim is to improve life for all by integrating the world. With our state-of-the-art Integrated Logistics Park, we want to ensure that we play an important role in connecting and simplifying the supply chains for importers, exporters and traders of Pakistan.”

He added, “I am proud of this major investment in Pakistan as it is a critical building block in the logistics infrastructure. It is also apt to recognise the unwavering support our customers have extended, with whom we could have meaningful conversations that helped us design a solution that creates value in their supply chains.”

With its six purpose-built sheds, the new facility makes Maersk the country’s largest logistics and warehousing provider, with a total footprint of more than 1.3 million square feet across seven cities.

Maersk Pakistan went on from acquiring a 26-acre piece of land to carefully designing and constructing a six-shed facility spread over 560,000 sq ft, which will meet all the requirements of its customers at a single location.

Jakob Linulf, the Danish Ambassador to Pakistan, said on the occasion: “Pakistan has incredible potential to grow, and there are enough opportunities for trade to flourish here. Despite the various current challenges, Maersk has played an important role as a trusted partner for Pakistan’s traders.”

“Maersk’s commitment to invest in a large facility such as the one inaugurated today at Port Qasim speaks volumes of the potential that is out there to be harnessed,” added the ambassador.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022