KARACHI, Sept 11: The Karachi Port has deepened the draft of its Berth No 11 and Beth No 12 to 13 meters which will enable larger vessels to call at the port paving way to achieve economies of scale.

Presently the port is handling around 60 per cent of country maritime trade and after deepening of draft, larger vessels with bigger load would call at the port and benefit trade and industry on becoming cost-effective, port sources said on Tuesday. Sources said that the throughput of the Karachi Port is currently at 41 million tons and same is estimated to reach 100 million tons in years to come.

The port has initiated round-the-clock dredging of berths to increase draft for giving berths to larger vessels.

Most of the shipping lines all over the world are fast shifting to larger vessels with deeper draft and longer length overall (AoL) to reduce running cost and meet the economies of scale, port sources said.

Consequently, the Karachi Port is planning to meet the future challenges and keep its contributions towards national economy by enhancing draft of its berths and also providing state of art facility to port users.

The KPT expects that more shipping lines would like to call at Karachi Port on having deeper draft facility because ever rising fuel cost is compelling most of the shipping companies to keep a fleet of larger vessels to meet the economies of scale.

Port sources said that the KPT is also planning to increase the draft of other berths and also developing turn circle so that vessels with longer AoL and deeper draft could be accommodated.

The port sources said that such measures will also improve KPT’s revenue position by increasing its operational income which lately witnessed decline owing to slowdown in economy and steep fall in exports.