KARACHI: The Karachi Port received over 2,000 ships in the outgoing fiscal year to record its highest ship traffic in eight years, Pakistan’s Maritime Affairs Ministry said on Monday, crediting the surge to improved shipping activity and enhanced operational performance amid the Iran war.
Pakistan witnessed a surge in transshipment activity as the Iran war triggered shipping disruptions across the Arab Gulf, forcing global carriers to reroute their cargo through the South Asian country. Pakistan revised its international transshipment rules in March this year after the surge in shipping activity, which shipping line representatives said alloed the handling of transshipment cargo both within and outside the country’s sea and air ports.
A total of 2,003 ships berthed at the Karachi Port during the outgoing fiscal year, Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said in a statement issued by his ministry. Ship arrivals at the port increased by 7.5 percent while the total tonnage of ships at the Karachi Port exceeded 84.4 million tons.
“The chairman of Karachi Port Trust stated that this historic achievement was made possible through improved shipping activity and enhanced operational performance,” the Maritime Affairs Ministry said.
Chaudhry described the growth in maritime trade as a “positive indicator” for the national economy, with the ministry adding that a 3 percent increase in Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) was also recorded during the fiscal year.
Pakistani ship agents have said that the Iran war created an opportunity for Pakistan through which it could make itself a permanent choice for transshipment traders by making port tariffs more competitive than peers like Dubai, Salalah and Colombo, as well as countries such as India and Hong Kong.
“Previously, we were not even in the race,” Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association (PSAA) Secretary-General Syed Tahir Hussain told Arab News in March. “Now, due to the Middle East disruption, Pakistan has a unique opportunity as ships are looking for nearby alternatives and Pakistan is the closest. They can unload here and move later when conditions improve.”
Tensions in the Middle East are expected to subside and global carriers to resume their usual shipping activities after US President Donald Trump announced early Monday that Washington and Tehran have reached a peace deal.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the peace deal would be signed in Switzerland on Friday, adding that mediators will facilitate a series of meetings this week to lay the foundation for the technical talks and the signing ceremony.
