LAHORE, Jan 31; The Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Senator Babar Khan Ghauri, on Monday said that Karachi International Container Terminal capacity was being doubled with a $55 million investment and efforts were being made to revive National Shipping Corporation.

Speaking at Meet-the-Press Programme at the Lahore Press Club the minister said that $800,000 annual income of Karachi Port Trust from the KICT would double after a 100 per cent increase in containers handling capacity.

He said that Karachi Port and Port Qasim were being expanded in collaboration with the private sector for facilitating docking of the mother ships from April.

Regarding Gawadar Port, he said President General Pervez Musharraf and Chinese Premier would inaugurate the port in March. This port would also have the docking facilities for mother ships and would be used for trans-shipment for Central Asian states.

The minister said that the government was also trying to revive the protocol under which the Indian and Pakistani flagships would be able to carry goods for both the countries.

The Indian government had responded to the proposal favourably but the revival of the protocol depended on the ongoing peace process between the two countries. He said that 80 per cent of Indian cargo was being shipped on foreign flagships at present. Pakistani flagships would be able to carry a part of it as a result of revival of the protocol.

Efforts were also being made to convince the private sector to resume the Haj service by sea. The shipping lines, however, wanted to ascertain the use of ships during the period other than the Haj season.

Replying to a question about payment of compensation to the people affected by the Tasman Spirit oil spill incident the minister said that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had constituted a committee head by the attorney general to sort out the matter.

He said that the victims would be compensated from the money to be received in form of insurance claim. He said that the government had also constituted a committee to submit proposals for establishment of tsunami warning system.

He said that the Economic Coordination Committee had reduced the duty on import of scrap ships for the revival of the ship-breaking industry. Ships were, however, not available for breaking due to the world wide steel crisis. Earlier the minister visited the container terminal on Multan Road.