A Liberian-flagged container vessel grounded at Port Qasim early on Sunday because of "emergency silting" in the port's 45-kilometer long navigational channel. M/v Nordic Hong Kong, having 46,579 dead-weight tonnage (DWT), ran aground at around 6:55am near buoy number 9 of the port and remained stranded there for at least 4-5 hours.
"It happened because of emergency silting in the channel," said an official at the operations department of Port Qasim Authority (PQA) on Monday. Owned by M/s Nordic Hong Kong Schifffahrts, the vessel arrived here at QT2-II of Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) on Friday 4:50pm with 2210 containers aboard. It, however, stranded in the channel while sailing off from the port on Sunday morning.
The container ship of 228.20 length overall (LOA), was re-floated after the port operators at PQA carried out an hours-long rescue operation through mobilizing its own and hired craft. It was around 11:45am when the ship was re-floated, according to sources. There was a perception in the shipping circles that "engine failure" caused the vessel to go adrift. The PQA officials, however, attributed the incident to "a little fault" in the channel.
"You know the monsoon season has just ended that caused some emergency silting in certain parts of the channel," an official told Business Recorder. The port authorities, he said, were aware of the post-monsoon negative but could not locate the exact position of the fault initially. "Surveying the channel also was next to impossible on the heels of monsoon season," the official said, adding "Now we have surveyed it and would remove siltation."
The PQA, he said, had finalised arrangements to carry out maintenance dredging in the port's 13-meter navigational channel through "Delta Queen". "We are starting dredging tomorrow (today)," the official said. Asked if some engine failure was involved in the grounding, the official said: "No. Why should I lie". Smooth sailing would remain a major source of concern for dozens of vessels that call on and leave the country's second largest port on daily basis. At 8:00 hours August 31, according to PQA's daily shipping statement, at least nine vessels were berthed at wharves and different dedicated terminals of Port Qasim while five were anchored at the outer anchorage.