ISLAMABAD: The rehabilitation of three berths at the Karachi Port being undertaken with World Bank assistance is nearing completion and will be handed over to the Karachi Port Trust in the coming weeks.

According to a World Bank report, the berths 15 to 17 were non-operational and were incapable of handling larger ships normally used for the high volume bulks. Eight of the 20 general purpose berths – 10 to 17A – required to be reconstructed in order to reduce the costs of ship waiting time from high levels.

The three berths (15–17) constitute half of the project scope, and KPT will soon be operationalising these berths, report says.

The project, for which the World Bank had approved the financing of $115.8 million, is aimed at to replace the lost port capacity and reduce shipping costs to the national economy through the reconstruction of the failed berths and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of port operations and enhancing environmental sustainability.

The report says that the project is behind its completion schedule as the actual versus planned progress of civil works has slipped by 18pc. Some changes to the design has increased the quantum of work, and this change in design as well as other unforeseen reasons caused delay in completion of the project by seven to nine months. The project was expected to be completed early this year.

There was a delay in delivery of steel casings by Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), and also an unforeseen obstructions in seabed, frequent strikes in Karachi, some delays associated with design changes, and handing over some portion of sites.

Berths 5-17 were constructed during 1955-1960 under a World Bank financed project while berths 5-9 were reconstructed in the late 1990s and four of those berths were subsequently concessioned to a private container terminal operator, Pakistan International Container Terminal.

Published in Dawn December 21th , 2014