If officials at the Ministry of Ports and Shipping are to be believed, the Government of Pakistan has started engaging its regional neighbours to develop a multi-dimensional logistics network the strategically-important China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would require once constructed.
Islamabad, through the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, is in talks with Tehran, Abu Dhabi and Baghdad for the launching of a passenger ferry service to facilitate Shia pilgrims and foreign tourists and traders who, official sources said, would be visiting Pakistan after the establishment of proposed Gwadar Free Zone. Besides, the shipping ministry is planning to run a local passenger ferry service between Karachi and Gwadar to provide a safe travelling route to the passengers.
Work on three proposals, an official at the ministry of ports told Business Recorder, was currently underway: Karachi-Gwadar, Karachi-Iran and Karachi-UAE. "The first one is the easiest (to run) and is so likely to start soon," he said. About the second service, the official said, the two governments had finalised the modalities related to immigration and customs issues and Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif was likely to open the maiden service within next couple of months.
The ferry would sail from Karachi to reach in two days the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and then further up to Iraq. "We asked for Chabahar (port) but the Iranians refused and made it Bandar Abbas," claimed the official. Each of the passengers, he said, would be allowed to carry luggage weighing not more than 100 kilograms. "Pilgrims and tourists would be provided with a safer route to travel in the prevailing uncertain security situation," the official said.
A purely private sector investment, the proposed ferries would be operated by private sector companies with whom conclusive meetings had been held. The third service is envisaged to run between Karachi and Dubai's port of Jable Ali. However, progress on this route, the official said, was slow for some payment related issues with the ferry operators.
Asked if the operators would be able to find enough passengers to travel through sea on Karachi-Gwadar ferry, the official replied in affirmative. "This plan has been devised keeping in mind the country's future communication needs," he said, adding "We are going to have an Economic Free Zone at Gwadar (under CPEC project)". The personnel from Pakistan Navy and Port Security Force would provide security to the ferry services.
Confirming that the ferry services related developments be seen in the backdrop of the CPEC venture, Chairman Gwadar Port Authority Dostain Khan Jamaldini, however, differed with the ministry officials on the number of ferry routes. "This is going to be a single route service running from Karachi through Gwadar, Chabahar, Bandar Abbas up to Jable Ali," said the GPA chief. The ferry service's initiative, he said, came from an Iranian ferry operator through the Ministry of Trade and Commerce of Iran.
Jamaldini said unlike Europe, Far Eastern and other developed regions, there were little or no passenger cargo services running in South Asia. "This is an initiative in line of with the vision and policy of ports ministry which tends to extend its role beyond cargo handling at seaports," the GPA chairman said.