30 January 2005	Sunday	19 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Jan 29: Pakistan has put age restriction to obviate from substandard oil tankers calling at country's ports. This has been necessitated to avoid any mishap in port areas which may result in pollution and damage to ecology and environment. The government has fixed April 5, 2005 last date for the enforcement of this condition.

So far there has been no age restriction or guidelines for oil tankers calling at ports. The ministry of ports and shipping took note of the situation and issued guidelines for all type of oil tankers calling at country's ports.

The grounding of oil tanker Tusman Spirit about two years ago played havoc with the life of citizen living near the costal belt and also considerably damaged marine life and environment.

Initially, the ministry has imposed a 25-year age restriction on Segregated Ballast Tankers (SBT) carrying crude oil and its products. The ministry also sought certification from the classification society to ensure their age and voyage worthiness.

Pakistan annually imports around eight million tons of crude oil but has no guidelines or regulations for tankers calling at its ports that remained a threat to its environment and ecology. But the grounding of Tusman Spirit near the approach channel of Karachi Port has forced the government to issue such guidelines.

The policy guidelines issued by Director General (Ports and Shipping) Captain Anwar Shah clearly stipulate that in order to obviate the entry of substandard tankers in ports, a crude oil tanker with SBT up to 25 years of age and all product tankers with SBT up to 25 years of age will only be allowed to report at country's ports.

It was further stated that all such tankers must be classed with the classification society, which must be a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). These tankers should also comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Condition Assessment Scheme.

The directives further stated that any crude oil or product tanker not complying with the guidelines mentioned may not be permitted to enter country's ports or offshore installation area, anchor and any area under the jurisdiction of Pakistani ports.

However, a sort of relaxing clause has been indirectly inducted by the DG, which states: "Port State Control after survey and on getting satisfied may permit the entry of oil tanker. It means that there could be some relaxation on case to case basis."

At present around 12 crude oil tankers having an average capacity of 60,000 tons report monthly at country's ports. But shipping industry sources told Dawn that state-owned Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC), which owned four oil tankers, was exempted from these restrictions. The oldest tanker of PNSC is of 24 years (1981), one of 1983 make and the remaining two of 1985 make.