20000326

Ship agents

concerned over

reduced depth of

navigational channel

MUZAFFAR QURESHI

KARACHI: Ship agents have expressed deep concern over the drastically reduced depth of navigational channel at Port Qasim and asked the Port Qasim Authority to elaborate the measures taken to ensure shipping in the channel during the monsoon period.

In a message to the chairman of the Port Qasim Authority, ship agents said that the captains of the ships touching Port Qasim had reported that the approach channel had been adversely affected by heavy silting. There were at least two incidents in which ships touched the bottom in the channel but were luckily not damaged. However, in the present circumstances, there was no guarantee of eliminating the possibility at a big mishap, agents warned.

They pointed out that normally, the dredging of Port Qasim channel started in the months of December/January each year so that a depth of about 14.00 meters was available in the channel during the Monsoon season. Without dredging this year the depth of the approach channel would be gradually reduced to about 11.50/12.00 meters. Giving an allowance of 2.5 meters bottom clearance to ships, the permissible safe draught for ships touching Port Qasim would come down to about 9.5 meters.

Ship agents feared that if no immediate dredging was undertaken at the navigational channel of the port, all imports of essential commodities like wheat, coal, iron and visits of the container ships to the port would be in jeopardy.

They requested the PQA to advise ship agents on the current status of the channel depth and the dredging programme as well as the anticipated draught for April to July 2000 period.

Meanwhile, the deputy conservator of Port Qasim in a circular has informed the port users that due to existing operational and technical reasons, PQA is constrained to withdraw with immediate effect the additional conditional draft of 0.5 meters allowed to ships in a circular issued on September 30, 1999.