KARACHI: A country boat with 13-member Pakistani crew carrying general cargo including vehicles caught fire at Karachi port in the early hours of Friday, port sources said.

The boat, Al-Haroon-I, with a flag of the Comoros was given berth No. I at Napier Mole boat wharf on Tuesday. The last port of call of the craft was Sharjah.

The cargo’s discharging started on Thursday; the fire, however, erupted on Friday at 4am when the boat was still loaded with cargo and many vehicles were still on board, official sources said.

The cause of the fire could not be immediately known and Karachi port authorities are reported to have started the investigation.

Around half a dozen fire tenders belonging to Karachi port and Pakistan Navy took part in extinguishing the fire.

The operation lasted for six hours. The fire could only be brought under control when KPT’s tug boat Ghori participated in the efforts and the fire, which started at 4am, was brought under control at around 10am.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2018