KARACHI, Sept 3: A ship carrying 20,000 tons of urea from Saudi Arabia was berthed at the Karachi Port on Wednesday, port sources said.

They said that the port authorities did not let MV Ocala to wait at the outer anchorage and it was directly taken to Berth No 2 of East Wharf at 07:00am. The ship has started off-loading urea, which is packed in polyvinyl bags, they added.

Ministry of food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal) has imported urea from Saudi Arabia on urgent basis to meet the shortage of this vital input to boost agriculture production.

A Minfal official said that this was the first urea ship and the next vessel is due within couple of weeks. He said that the ministry had contracted for the import of 135,000 tons of urea from Saudi Arabia. —APP