A New Era of Cargo Industry is about
to Begin
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| CPEC |
What
is cargo? It is sending goods by means of air transport, ship or motor vehicle.
Each kind of cargo is opted depending upon certain factors: reliability,
delivery time, goods’ weight and transportation costs has associated advantages
and benefits. 95% of Pakistan’s national
trade is carried by seaborne means.
Cargo to Pakistan National Shipping
Corporation, being a national flag carrier, is one of the 8 organizations
running under Ministry of Maritimes affairs that encourages growth in shipping
by following the safety standards.
Cargo handling capacity of Pakistan
Pakistan,
being a lucrative destination for new investment as it is paving its way to
progress. Even though Port Qasim is one of the busy seaports in Pakistan but
the Karachi and Gawadar ports are of high significance in terms of trade and
cargo handling capacity.
Karachi
port of Pakistan is capable of handling up to 14 million tons of liquid cargo
while it has the capacity of handling 12 million tons of general dry cargo.
Yet, the expansion of handling facility up to 8 million tons is under
development.
Pakistan
constructed Gawadar deep sea port recently that has gained much importance for
being a game-changer in China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC). Gawadar port
has the dry Door to door cargo handling
capacity of 5.77 million tons and 18.77 million tons of liquid cargo.
Objectives and Functions of Pakistan
National Shipping Corporation (PNSC)
PNSC
is a self-governing body that established under 1979 ordinance. The core
objective of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation is the carriage of National
trade by sea, freight stability and trade strategic considerations.
Pakistan
National Shipping Corporation undertakes three types of works as per follows:
•
Fleet Handling
•
Real Estate
•
Workshops
The
size of PNSC Fleet
The
PNSC has a total deadweight handling capacity of 68806 metric tons. The PNSC
fleet comprises of 14 vessels with their tonnage of 570466 DWT and 4 modern
double hull Aframax tankers of 107000 DWT capacity.
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| Gwadar Port |
Though
this much cargo handling capacity is not enough to handle full cargo trade to
or from Pakistan, PNSC is continually struggling and making progress and moving
forward successfully. Graph chart of performance for the last 10 years has
shown the highest profitability with each coming year.
Targets Achieved by PNSC
In
the year 2016, international cargo handling industry faced the unrivalled
emergence of big names but PNSC still managed to survive the uneven blow and
completed its trade mission successfully.
PNSC
during 2016-2017 managed a remarkable profit of 2.477 million pkr and achieved
a 7% increase in profit for the corresponding year. The corporation is
committed to spending a reasonable amount of profit into development and
expansion plans.
PNSC Fleet Development &
Extension Plan
The
corporation is continually improving its strength as it is well aware of its
rivals and improving international standards.
To
cater Pakistan’s sea cargo requirements Fleet Development plan is under
consideration. PNSC proposed 3 projects under the Public Sector Development
Plan (PSDP) which the Government of Pakistan has approved.
These
projects include land acquisition for maritime works and Enhance transit oil
shore storage capacities at Karachi & Gawadar seaports supported by other
stakeholders as well. These facilities would, no doubt, contribute to energy
production in the region as well as fuel demands would be met.
Establishment
of modern ship workshop at Gawadar is a milestone achieved for the maritime
industrial sector.
PNSC A Game Changer in CPEC
China-Pak
Economic Corridor is worth $62 billion and would provide the shortest route for
Gulf to China, through Pakistan. It’s a gateway open from Gawadar, Pakistan to
Xinjiang province of the People Republic of China. Under the CPEC scheme, many
coal power plants are established and a few more are about to be established.
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| PNSC |
To
ignite and run the power production in those power plants, coal is the number
one requirement and would mainly be imported from foreign countries, rich in
coal mines. This huge tonnage supply of coal would only be possible if a
trusted and uncompromised cargo service is utilised.
Being
national flag carrier, PNSC could be a game changer by
ensuring uninterrupted coal supply to the Pakistani seaports from source
countries and then on time supply could be ensured by delivering it through
railways.
