KARACHI, June 5: A pilot boat and a tug hired by the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) for a period of two years would soon be brought into operation to handle larger vessels of 295-meter, official sources said.

However, a controversy arose soon after the PQA entered into a contract on April 2, 2008, with a Dutch company for supplying the tug and the pilot boat.

Port and shipping experts alleged that the PQA did not only violate the major tendering procedures but also did not take approval from the board.

Consequently, one of PQA’s board members, in a rejoinder to port authorities, took a serious note of the fact that the board was taken into confidence before accepting the Dutch company’s offer.

The matter was brought to the notice of the then minister of ports and shipping Naveed Qamar, who promptly ordered an enquiry for which a high powered committee was formed.

According to the enquiry committee findings excess had been committed in the process of awarding tender. Furthermore, it also recommended that those found guilty must be punished and forthwith a gallop tender be floated to assess the market rates to compare with the price on which the PQA had signed a contract, the official sources disclosed.

The enquiry report was presented to the minister on May 13, 2008, who ordered for the suspension of the persons found guilty.

However, PQA sources told Dawn that the ministry of ports and shipping did not stop them at any stage from getting these vessels, which are badly needed by the port in monsoon season for handling larger vessels.

Sources said that the port would also hire another ASD tug with Bollard pull 45 ton as was initially planned. The tug ‘Smith Loire’ built in 2000 has arrived at PQA, whereas the pilot boat MPB Smith Qasim built in 2008 has arrived at the Karachi Port.