KARACHI: At least 20 containers on Wednesday still afloat as Karachi Port Trust (KPT) continued its operation to recover those containers, which had fallen into the sea after the collision of two vessel ships.
Two heavy loaded vessels near the South Asia Pakistan Terminals Limited (SAPT) collided on Monday causing loaded containers on both the ships to fall into the sea.“Approximately 55-60 containers from the ships fell into the deep sea,” said port authorities.
Hapeg-Lloyd’s ship 8,000-TEU Tolten, which was carrying transit-containers, collided with another vessel 6,350-TEU Hamburg Bay near the SAPT berth on Monday.
While Tolten remained docked at the Karachi Port, Hamburg departed after receiving channel clearance.
According to port officials, the divers have tied the ropes around 12 containers which will be pulled out by a crane. “The recovery operation is likely to continue for two to three more days,” the official said, adding that after completion of the operation, South Asia Port Terminal (SAPT) will open for business.
The sources on Monday said that initial investigation revealed that the pilots of Karachi Port Trust (KPT), who took charge of the vessels, are responsible for this incident. The KPT’s pilots know deep sea routes and they tug the ships to the port. The sources further claimed that the containers are floating toward the channels made for breaking heavy waves and could possibly damage them if a proper action for removing the containers is not taken on time.
KPT officials said that their investigation team is trying to find out the reason for the accident and will submit a report after their return from the site of the collision.
The sources also informed that a similar incident had taken place two months ago because of a KPT pilot’s negligence, however, it was not reported to the media since it wasn’t as dangerous as this one.
