Shipping activity at Karachi Port has come to a partial standstill due to, what sources have termed, ‘the pilotage crisis’ after a strike was called by the Karachi Port Trust’s pilots protesting a ‘faulty’ pilot boat. The pilots have claimed that the boat is not seaworthy especially during the monsoon season.
The pilots are said to have gone on strike after their weeks-long standoff over piloting of controversial boat -Dynamic 7 – with the KPT management intensified and negotiations hit a deadlock. The strike, which began at 12 pm on Tuesday continued till the filing of this report, rendering dozens of vessels pilot-less at the Karachi Port.
KPT’s shipping intelligence report shows that the strike would impact the movement of at least 45 vessels, including oil tankers, container ships, general cargo ships etc., in terms of their berthing and sailing time. According to KPT report, up to 0700 hours on Tuesday some 12 vessels were anchored at the East and West wharves of the port, loading and unloading various imported and exportable cargoes.
It shows that while some 9 vessels are awaiting berthing at the outer anchorage, there are 24 others that are scheduled to arrive at the country’s most congested port during next 14 days, from July 5 to July 19. If the dispute lingers, many of the said ships
would likely be bracing for heavy port demurrages as well as going out of their schedule to reach the targetted destinations.
In such cases, the consignees of the ships also have to pay millions of
dollars to shipping companies on account of ship demurrages.
“There was no vessel anchored at the terminal on Tuesday,” sources at
the Pakistan International Container Terminal told Pakistan Today.
They said of the two container vessels, Bravo and Ittal Ottima, the latter could arrive inside the terminal at 2am on Tuesday night, whereas the former was still off the port for want of pilotage.
According to sources, pilots claimed that the boat was made of fiber and not aluminum and was, therefore, not capable of sustaining the sharp sea waves during the ongoing monsoon season.
“The boat has not gone to the sea for the last several days as the pilots are afraid of drowning,” they claimed.
“The length and fiber-made hull of the pilot boat are not of standard level,” sources claimed.
KPT has a bad reputation when it comes to hiring or acquiring vessels for routine port operations like pilotage, dredging etc.
Certain aspects about Dynamic 7, boat in question, were also dubious as, the sources claimed, that the vessel was being run without signing a formal contract with the owner.
All departments of the KPT with the exception of the operations department had opposed the chartering of this “vulnerable” boat, sources explained.
They said that KPT would be incurring costs up to $1,350 per day, aggregating to over $0.492 million annually, for the one-year unsigned deal.
This would be in addition to Rs10 million the port operator had paid on account of customs duty, they claimed.
When contacted, the KPT officials, tried to mislead the media about this significant development, with a KPT spokesperson outrightly denying any such incidence occuring.
The spokesperson said, “There is no strike and therefore no impact on ship traffic.”
“Everything is normal and nothing has happened. The ships that are supposed to come and leave the port are coming and leaving normally,” he claimed. Pakistan today tried to contact Harbour master of KPT however they were unavailable for comment.
