Port equipments rusting at Gwadar

[LRE]

By: Waqar Hamza | Published: March 11, 2010

KARACHI - The port equipments at Gwadar port comprise of portal, gantry, rubber tyre gantry and mobile cranes including empty container stackers, flat bed trucks, forklifts etc. have been found in rusting condition.
The Nation has learnt that the said equipments at Gwadar Port, having been handed over to Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), are rusting by dint of negligence and to be completely damaged soon, as the Prudent Terminal Practice is ignored in entirety.
Moreover, the refrigerated container stacking facility, which is one of the first kinds at any Pakistani port, is rusting away including power sockets that got damaged, while the power generator from one of the rubber tyred gantry cranes is dismantled and placed ashore for port lighting, thus rendering the RTG useless.
Sources informed that PSAI was given 2 tug boats, 2 pilot boats and 1 mooring boat for marine operations by Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), and the current poor condition of pilot boats, including mooring boat, is least expected negligence from the port operator of international repute, PSA Gwadar.
In addition the said crafts are rusting away with broken/damaged navigational lights, and daily/weekly maintenance is hardly being done for several months, sources added.
The sources further informed that PSA Gwadar was also handed over the desalination plant of 100,000 gallons per day in running condition for port daily use and supplying of potable water to ships, but that plant too is lying idle for the last several months due to some technical fault.
It is pertinent to mention that China Harbor and Engineering Company had installed 3 power generators each of 1.5 MW to efficiently run the port machinery and office building requirements.
And on installation of 2 extra gantry cranes by PSA Gwadar, extra backup power installation was required in case of normal power failure, but no action has been taken for back-up power, sources informed.
The marine experts say that it is normal in most cases that a single gantry crane while lifting a loaded container requires minimum power of 1 to 1.2 MW, and once the container is lifted the power requirement falls to few hundred KV.
So, the said explanation is only to say that in case 3 ships including one medium size container ship utilising both the gantry cranes, sufficient power will not be available for the portal cranes if they are being used for other 2 ships.

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