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Port of Karachi
The Port of Karachi is Pakistan's largest and busiest seaport, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum). The port is located at 24°50′00″N, 66°58′30″E (24.840000, 66.980000) between the Karachi towns of Kiamari and Saddar, close to the heart of old Karachi. The port is located close to the main business district of Karachi and several industrial areas. The geographic position of Karachi places the port in close proximity to major shipping routes such as the Straits of Hormuz. The administration of the port is carried out by the Karachi Port Trust which was established in the nineteenth century.
The Karachi Port is administered by a Board of Trustees, comprising Chairman and 10 Trustees. The Chairman is appointed by the Federal Government and is also the Chief Executive of Karachi Port Trust. The remaining 10 Trustees are equally distributed between the public and the private sector. The five public sector Trustees are nominated by the Federal Government. The seats for private sector Trustees are filled by elected representatives of various private sector organizations. This way all port users find a representation in the Board of Trustees.
Description
The port comprises a deep natural harbour with an 11-km long approach channel which provides safe navigation for vessels up to 75,000 DWT. The main areas of port activity are two wharves – East Wharf with seventeen vessel berths and West Wharf with thirteen vessel berths. The maximum depth alongside the berths is currently 11.3 metres. The two wharves extend in opposite directions along the upper harbour – the West Wharf southwest from Saddar town and the East Wharf northeast from Kiamari Island.
The flow of cargo to and from the port is hampered by severe congestion in the harbour with several other maritime facilities located close to the port. Adjacent to the West Wharf is the Karachi Fishing Harbour, which is administered separately from the port and is the base for a large fleet of several thousand fishing vessels. The West Wharf also hosts a ship repair facility and shipyard and a naval dockyard at the tip of the wharf, while to the south of the port are the Karachi Naval Base and the Kiamari Boat Club. The Port of Karachi also faces competition from a new private terminal located 5 kilometres away in the larger harbour west of the port. In recent years the federal government has attempted to alleviate the increased congestion in the harbour by constructing a second port in Karachi thirty kilometres east at Port Qasim and a third major port at Gwadar about 650 kilometres west of Karachi. The Karachi Fishing Harbour has been upgraded and a second fishing harbour is located 18 kilometres away at Korangi. The transfer of some naval vessels to the new naval base at Ormara has brought about further reductions in congestion.
Port Facilities
The port has thirty dry cargo berths, three liquid cargo-handling berths (oil piers), two ship repair jetties and a shipyard and engineering facility. These are arranged in two main wharves - the West Wharf and the East Wharf each including a container terminal: -
- Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) opened in 1996 at West Wharf berths 28-30. It has a handling capacity of 300,000 TEUs per annum and handles container ships up to 11-metre draught. The total quay length is 600 metres divided into two container berths. The terminal is equipped with three Panamax cranes and one post-Panamax crane.
- Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT) in 2002 at East Wharf berths 6-9. It has a handling capacity of 350,000 TEUs per annum and handles container ships up to 11.5 metre draught. The total quay length is 600 metres divided into two container berths. The terminal is equipped with two Panamax cranes.
- KICT and PICT have a nearby competitor in the privately operated Al-Hamd International Container Terminal (AICT), which opened in 2001 at a site west of the Layari river. AICT is situated next to the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate, the new truck stand at Hawkes Bay Road and close to the RCD Highway, Super Highway and the future Layari Bypass.
- Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works carries out shipbuilding and repair for both commercial and military customers on a 29-hectare (70 acres) site at the West Wharf. The facilities include a large shipbuilding hall, three shipbuilding berths, two dry-docks, three foundries.
Expansion
Further deepening of the port has been planned by the Karachi Port Trust in order to enhance facilities. The channel is being dredged initially to 13.5 metres deep to cater for 12 metre draught vessels at all tides. At Kiamari Groyne, located at the outer tip of the harbour, dredging will be to 16.5 metres to enable vessels up to 300 metres long to dock. The Karachi Port Trust also plans to develop a trans-shipment terminal at Kiamari Groyne which should minimise turn around time for larger vessels.
