Ship hits Gwadar Port berth

[LRE]

by: Maqbool Malik | Published: August 28, 2009


Islamabad- Roll On-Roll Off (RO-RO) berth, one of the three sole berths of Pakistan’s first deep-sea Gwadar Port, is feared to have been structurally damaged on August 17 while hidden efforts are afoot to hush up the matter, sources told TheNation on Thursday.
Sources said the RO-RO berth was hit and damaged when a Panama flagged merchant ship Sheng Meng Hong 7 was being shifted from berth 1 to 3 to discharge imported fertilizer consignment at 1930 Hours PST.
Sources were of the view that the mysterious ship collision had caused serious structural damage to the blocks supporting piles of the said jetty, besides partial damage to its Centre Line, including the horizontal fenders. So far the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) has ordered no expert inspection to assess the losses.
However when contacted Secretary Ports and Shipping Muhammad Saleem Khan conceded the occurrence of collision and requested this scribe to approach Gwadar Port Authority (GPA).
When approached, a senior GPA official told TheNation that the GPA had already reported the matter to Director General Ports and Shipping on August 21, and he had ordered the MMD department to conduct a preliminary investigation into the matter. GPA sources further said that the ill-fated ship was still under detention and would remain so till the matter was resolved once for all.


http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-n...Port-berth