This column is dedicated to those citizens of Pakistan who, imbued with 'jazbah', are ready to embark upon a short swift and decisive war, waged and won by the use of our prized nuclear weaponry, all in the name of honour, glory and 'principled stands' (as defined by our successive wielders of power).

Pakistan is a maritime nation, with a coastline extending over one thousand kilometers. An exclusive area of the Arabian Sea is notified as Pakistan's 'exclusive economy zone', through which traverses approximately 80 per cent of the world's oil loaded at ports serving the oilfields of Iran, the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf states.

The fact that no vessels fly the flag of Pakistan, other than the odd half-score owned by the moribund Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (five of which were berthed at Karachi on August 15) may be a matter of shame but we still remain a maritime nation; we enjoy the pleasures of the sea and must also suffer its perils.

The perils include the grounding, the breaking up of tankers, oil spills and the consequent damage to the environment. Major oil spills as of 1967, recorded on the ITOPF (International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation) website : [tanker, year, location, spill-tonnes] Atlantic Empress, 1979, off Tobago, West Indies, 287,000; ABT Summer, 1991, off Angola, 260,000; Castillo de Bellver, 1983, off Saldhana Bay, South Africa, 252,000; Amoco Cadiz, 1978, off Brittany, France, 223,000; Haven, 1991, Genoa, Italy,144,000; Odyssey,1988,off Nova Scotia, 132,000; Torrey Canyon, 1967, off Scilly Isles, UK, 119,000; Sea Star, 1972, Gulf of Oman, 115,000; Urquiola, 1976, La Coruna, Spain, 100,000; Irenes Serenade, 1980, Navarino Bay, Greece, 100,000; Hawaiian Patriot, 1977, off Honolulu, 95,000; Independenta, 1979, Bosphorus, Turkey, 95,000; Jakob Maersk, 1975, Oporto, Portugal, 88,000; Braer, 1993, Shetland Islands, UK, 85,000; Khark 5, off Atlantic Coast of Morocco, 80,000; Prestige, 2002, off the Spanish coast, 77,000; Aegean Sea, 1992, La Coruna, Spain, 74,000; Sea Empress, 1996, Milford Haven, UK, 72,000; Katina P, 1992, off Maputo, Mozambique, 72,000; Exxon Valdez, 1989, Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA, 37,000.

Now, in 2003, Tasman Spirit, off Karachi, has spilt, so far, some 25,000 tonnes of oil into our sea. This ship was built in 1979 at Onomichi Zosen Kabushiki Kaisha shipyard in Japan, bearing yard no. 265. She was originally named Kenko Maru, and subsequently renamed Kenko, then Mabini, then Tasman Spirit, then Hyperion, then Hemmingway and in 1998 reverted back to Tasman Spirit (named presumably after Abel Janszoon Tasman, 1603-59, the greatest of the Dutch navigators and explorers who discovered Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fiji Islands.

Tasman Spirit was chartered by the PNSC and carried 67,532 tonnes of crude oil for Pakistan Refinery Limited. She was grounded off Karachi harbour on July 27. Since then approximately 20,000 tonnes has been transferred to another tanker, some 25,000 tonnes have already spilled, and the rest remains on board the stricken ship and could yet cause an even greater spillage. The spill has so far caused considerable damage, the full extent of which is yet to be established.

The owners are responsible for the safety of the ship and its cargo, and have reportedly signed a 'Lloyds open' salvage form, on a 'No cure - No pay basis, with a Dutch firm.

The Karachi Port Trust has but done what was expected of it. Now, litigation will follow, with claims and counter-claims made, and statements, born out of ignorance, will be aired that will cause this country harm. No one can or should take seriously whatever is said by the ministers or advisers of the government - let them continue to expound and tell us, and the world, what it is they think they know. Maintaining a stoic silence is, of course, an option.

Again, we have slept soundly, and snored loudly. Reportedly, in 2000, an oil spill plan was prepared by the Maritime Security Agency which calls for the purchase of USD 5 million worth of oil spill control equipment, a pollution control vessel at the cost of USD 20 million, and some USD 10 million for the training of personnel and the purchase of oil spill dispersing chemicals. The plan languishes somewhere lost in one of our government departments, probably the non-functioning environment ministry.

As it is, according to multiple expert reports, the waters in and around Karachi and its port are already highly polluted by an accumulation of oil, pesticides and assorted metals. Most of the mudflat areas are covered in oil, bereft of shrimp and fish and erosion is fast increasing, as the roots of our dying mangroves are no longer able to reinforce banks. This oil spill will kill whatever marine life we had left to our name. The stench of oil will inconvenience many who live on Karachi's seashores, but it will kill no human being.

This is being written by a member of a family which has long engaged in the business of salvaging ships and their cargoes. Amongst many, to begin with, our firm salved the SS Tannenfels, old Herman Helms' Hansa Line vessel, off Cape Monze in 1917; in 1925 Mitchell Cotts' SS Sunheath also off Cape Monze; Scindia's Jalaketu off Clifton Beach in 1948; Wilh Wilhemsen's Toledo, again off Clifton Beach, in 1952; Scindia's Jalakanya off Port Okha in 1952; US Fleet auxiliary tanker, USS Mission Purisima, in 1954 - her engines were disabled and the dead ship was towed from the Gulf, she was too deep to enter Karachi and was taken to Bombay; also in 1954, Mitsui's Asahisan Maru.

As shipowners we could afford to station a salvage tug, the bare-boat chartered Royal Naval auxiliary Salvagil, which remained ready on a 12-hours' call at Berth No.25 in Karachi harbour.

Has the Government of Pakistan successfully killed enterprise?