The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) would carry out dredging of the 'turning basin' at Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) from 450 metres to 600 metres at a cost of Rs 300 million. A dredger of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), 'Karamat', reached Port Qasim early on Friday to carry out the dredging operation, sources in PQA told Business Recorder.
They said that PQA would pay to KPT Rs 600 per cubic metre dredging, and added that total dredging area could be amount to 0.5 million cubic metres. The KPT dredger, they said, would start work within a month, and is likely to take six months to complete the job.
Sources said that when completed the capacity enhancing measure would enable the PQA to accommodate larger vessels at the QICT, having 310-metre length and 42-metre beam. They said that currently the Terminal can accommodate 33-metre beam ships.
The project would cover overall area of 600x150 sq metres", they said. Proposals have been longstanding for a PQA-owned dredger which could cater to the ever-increasing dredging needs at Port Qasim.