SEA PORTS

Karachi due to its geographical and strategic location is known as the gateway to Asia. Considered as a safe Harbor since time immemorial, Karachi was a small fishing village in early Nineteenth Century. By 1852, Karachi was an established city with a population of about 14,000 with a prosperous trade in over-seas markets. However, the existing Port started taking shape in 1854, when the projects of dredging the main navigable channel and the construction of a mole or causeway joining the main harbor with the rest of the city were undertaken. About 5 years later, construction of Manora Breakwater, Keamari Groyne, the Napier Mole Bridge, Native Jetty and the Chinna Creek were started which gave initial shape to the port.

The construction of the wharves started in 1882, and by 1914 the East Wharves and the Napier Mole Boat Wharf had been completed. During the period between 1927 and 1944, the West Wharves of the Port, the lighterage berths and the ship-repairing berths were constructed. Most of these facilities were obsolete by the time Pakistan came into existence in 1947. Since then, the port administration has embarked on extensive development of the port on modern lines. At the time of independence in 1947, the Port capacity was about 1.5 million tons of dry cargo and 1.0 million tons of P.O.L. products per annum. Karachi Port is now handling over 11.74 million tons of liquid cargo and 25.45 million tons of dry cargo, including 1,213,744 TEUs which constitute about 60% of import/ export of the country.

Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), Pakistans leading container terminal operator, has been in operation since 1998. It is located within the Port of Karachi, a natural deepwater harbour west of the Indus Delta on the Arabian Sea. The facility has five berths equipped with modern container-handling equipment. KICT is ISPS code compliant and is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) was formed as the Terminal Operating Company and took over dedicated container terminals on October 15th, 2002. PICT achieved successful completion of all contractual obligations of Phase-I development earlier than schedule on March 31st, 2004. PICT is a modern container terminal operating at berths 6—9, East Wharf, Karachi Port and its design depth of berths is 13.5 meters.

Port Qasim is managed by Port Qasim Authority. It is Pakistans second busiest port, handling about 40% of the nations cargo (17 million tons per annum). It is located in an old channel of the Indus River at a distance of 35 kilometres east of Karachi city centre. Day and night access to port through a 45 km long channel marked by channel buoys up to 11 meter draught vessels. Availibility of basic utilitie like portable water, power, gas,telecommunications, banking and other facilities.6.Transshipment and transit trade facilities with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics.7.Full range of port facilities to handle general, bagged,bulk,break-bulk,liquid and containeized cargo with back-up facilities.

Gwadar Port is the third port of Pakistan and its borders are on Arabian Sea and lies in the Balochistan Province. It is about 533 km from Karachi and 120 km from the Iranian border. Gwadar Port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and outside the Straits of Hormuz. It is near the key shipping routes used by the mainline vessels in the region with connections to Africa, Asia and Europe and enjoys high commercial and strategic significance.The purpose of developing this port is to stimulate economic growth in the western and northern parts of Pakistan, utilizing the available coastline resources of the country and also providing an outlet for the land locked Central Asian Countries and Afghanistan through transit trade and offering transshipment facilities.