September 8, 2003	Monday	Rajab 10, 1424

KARACHI, Sept 7: An enormous oil tanker, which was the largest in the world when it was built in France in 1979 and supplied oil to the United States from Saudi Arabia for 24 years, will be dismantled at the Gaddani shipbreaking yard over the next four months.

Appropriately called the Sea Giant, the oil tanker’s LTD (long tonnage displacement) is 74,000 tons. It is the biggest ship to be broken up at the Gaddani shipbreaking yard. It was registered in Panama.

Beached at the plot 91 of the shipbreaking yard, the oil tanker is the second largest ship in the world. The LTD of the largest ship is 82,000 tons. The length, height and width of the Sea Giant are 1,360 feet, 118 feet and 201 feet, respectively.

A leading Pakistan ship-breaker, Osman Enterprises, has purchased the single-hull oil tanker whose worth has been estimated to be Rs1 billion. The taxes paid by the ship-breaker will come to Rs400 million.

A spokesman for the shipping company, Shahid Patel, said the breaking up of the ship would begin in a couple of days after obtaining permission from the customs.

According to him, about 700 workers will be engaged daily in the dismantling process which could take three to four months.

Describing the oil tanker as the largest ship in the world brought for breaking up in Pakistan, he said it would boost the shipbreaking industry which had been in slump after the 1970s.

He hoped that the shipbreaking industry would soon be revived as the government had already announced a new package for ship-breakers.

He said the shipbreaking industry in Pakistan had more potential than India, China and Bangladesh as it had a natural beach in Gaddani.

He added that Pakistan was the only country where heavy machinery was employed for breaking up ships.

Mr Patel said the role the of the government was crucial to the development of the industry. He hoped that the government would give incentives and a relief in taxes.

He said the government should closely monitor international prices and revised its duties accordingly at a regular interval.

The shipping agent also dismissed the idea that scrap obtained after dismantling ships could have any negative effect on the international market.

A ship worker, Uzair Khan, who has been associated with the industry for a very long time, said Pakistan had broken up the third largest vessel in the world the previous year. He added that by seeking to dismantle an even bigger oil tanker, ship-breakers at Gaddani had proved their determination to compete with India, China and Bangladesh.

The policy of levying a high import duty had resulted in recession of business at Gaddani in the past couple of years, he said.

There are about 127 plots in Gaddani but the industry has facing a slump for the past decade. At present, six ships are berthed at the Gaddani shipbreaking yard which are in the process of being broken up for scrap.