November 20, 2003	Thursday	Ramazan 24, 1424

KARACHI, Nov 19: Berthing activity at the wharves on Wednesday was maintained on the higher side as port agencies tried to clear the off-port backlog caused owing to inward rush of foreign flag vessels, according to KPT sources.

As a result, eight ships including two rice loaders were berthed. They are: Kota Wajar, Oriental Bright, APL Portugal to unload and load containers, Reef Dubai, Azamia and Sprinter to load rice, Mandalay to load export commodities and Northern Bell to offload high speed diesel.

Five ships, Dong He,Kota Wajar, Kota Teguh, Sibi and Mercs Kirinda departed, while Bereket Ka, Courage Ace, APL Portugal, Mandalay, Hyundai Sprinter, Northern Bell and Bunga Terasak are due to sail out on Thursday.

Cargo handling activity at the wharves was active where a total tonnage of 87,890 tons comprising 25,464 tons of export cargo and 62,426 tons of import tonnage was handled.

Thor Simba is expected to arrive at the outer anchorage on Thursday.