KARACHI, Oct 29: The US Navy vessel USS Pearl Harbor has made its third trip to Karachi on Saturday with a consignment of 140 ton of heavy equipment and relief supplies from the United Arab Emirates.

The cargo includes army trucks and jeeps as well as bulldozers and other earth moving machinery.

The Pakistan Army would transport the equipment to the quake-affected areas, said US Consul General Mary Witt who was speaking at the Karachi Port to oversee the unloading of the cargo.

She said that the fresh arrival was the fifth delivery of relief assistance made by US Navy vessels over the past two weeks.

On October 17 and 18, the MV Northern Lights and the USS Pearl Harbor, which were diverted from their normal operations to transport heavy equipment to Karachi, had brought in cargo trucks, dump trucks, backhoes, forklifts, generators and other machinery and equipment whereas on October 24, the USS Pearl Harbor had made its second trip to Karachi bringing 140 tons of relief goods donated by Pakistanis living in the UAE. The relief goods included food, water, blankets, etc.

On October 27, the USS Cleveland had brought 14 containers of engineering equipment and 18 tons of humanitarian assistance from Egypt and France.

The envoy said that over 900 US emergency personnel, medical teams and engineers were now in Pakistan to assist in the relief efforts. The United States remains the principal international provider of airlift capabilities and 29 US helicopters were currently engaged in the relief operations.—APP