KARACHI: A national dredging company is being set up by the country’s major ports in collaboration with the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) which would help save millions of dollars being spent annually on maintenance and capital dredging.

Official sources told Dawn that it has been agreed in principle to set up a dedicated dredging company under a joint venture agreement between the organs of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping or under public private partnership.

Under the plan, all ports would pool their dredging assets and a third party audit would be carried out to prepare a feasibility report for setting up the company, sources added.

According to official estimates, around seven million cubic metres maintenance dredging alone is being carried out by three major ports — Port Qasim, Karachi Port, Gwadar port and fishing harbours annually.

The three ports, PQA, KPT, Gwadar Port and fishing harbours have an estimated dredging of 4.0, 1.5, 0.7 and 0.8 million cubic metres annually.

This would mean that if this amount of dredging is carried out by a private contractor, it would be at $12 per cubic metre and would have a total cost of around $84 million. But if the same is carried out by ports through their dredgers, it would cost at $6 per cubic metre and have a total cost of $42 million only.

Besides, the requirement of maintenance dredging services which include removal of accumulated material, like siltation in ports and harbours, the services of the dredging company would also be needed for creation of new harbours, berths, approach channels or even deepening of existing berths needed to allow access to larger vessels, sources added.

Capt Anwar Shah, former DG Ports and Shipping, said that the new venture in the shape of dredging company would not only be a win-win situation for all the attached entities of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping but would also be highly viable because it would have in hand a never-ending job in the shape of captive dredging work of the ports.

The Karachi Port has four dredgers — trailer suction hopper dredger Mahmood-ul-Hassan, back hoe dredger Ali, bucket dredger Aftab and trailer suction hopper dredger Abul. The Port Qasim presently has hire and purchase contract with a Chinese company which will expire by mid of next year.

The Port Qasim would soon have to go for capital dredging if it implements its plan of having second approach channel and also widening the existing channel.

The national dredging company in this case would help save millions of dollars in this venture, sources added.

Experts said that the proposed dredging company holds a unique opportunity for all ports to work jointly and develop a more coordinated and systematic approach in solving their dredging operations in future.

The dredging company is being considered by exporters to be in the larger interest of the country as it would provide a range of dredging and allied services to major and minor ports, including Pakistan Navy and fishing harbours of the country.

Sources said that a working group has been established to suggest modalities and structure of the company which may be public-private partnership, joint venture between the ports or even an attached department of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping.