KARACHI, Aug 16: Ports and shipping experts have challenged the credentials of members of the high-powered committee set up by the federal government to investigate the collapse of two berths (No 10 and 14) at the Karachi Port last week.
“Setting up of such a committee is no more than an eyewash because none of the members have the required expertise and knowledge of civil engineering, boring and pilling work,” the experts asserted.
Of the three-member committee, PNSC Chairman Rear Admiral (retd) Tauqir Naqvi is an operational man, director-general Ports and Shipping Rear Admiral Syed Afzal belongs to education and director-general (Operations) Port Qasim Authority Hashmatullah Khan is a ship captain.
The experts have suggested that the committee should be constituted of civil engineers, boring and piling engineers and a hydrographer and only then real facts could be unearthed.
It is also being apprehended by these experts that after the collapse of berth No 10 and 14 at East Wharf the other adjoining berths from 10 to 17 had become unsafe, therefore, the port authorities, instead of concealing impact of the berths collapse, should not use these berths.
However, port users told Dawn that some of the berths had developed cracks due to load stress caused by the collapsed berths and consequently, it is not advisable for the port authorities to moor ships alongside these berths.
They also alleged that the berths built during 1955 to 1964 had become time-barred and yet these were being used to accommodate big ships and as per hydraulic engineering, a mass creates equal space in the water. Consequently, the bigger a ship, the more stress of water on berth, which ultimately resulted in breaking the anchors of the collapsed berths (10 and 14).
Furthermore, they claimed that before collapsing both the berths had developed pit holes but port authorities never took notice of such developments, which ultimately resulted into a disastrous.
The experts alleged that way back in 1990 foreign consultants advised the Karachi Port Trust to strengthen the tie bars and concrete blocks, but the advice was ignored.On the contrary, the port authorities kept using these berths for heavy cargo and reefer loaders were allowed to run on them with loads of up to 70 tons. Besides, the port traffic authorities also allowed stacking of containers at the backside, which further created stress points.
But the most damaging factor for these time-barred berths, according to experts, had been the deepening of approach channel and other surrounding areas of these berths. Whereas these berths were designed for a draft of 9.5 metres but port authorities dredged the channel up to 12.5 metres, which totally disturbed the hydraulic movement around these weak berths.
However, the most intriguing factor of the episode is that other big disastrous events also occurred at Karachi Port on Aug 14.
Port users and experts recalled that on Aug 14, 2002 a ship ‘Golden Spirit’ spilled around 1,800 tons of oil after its hull burst on hitting a barge.
Similarly, the infamous incident of ‘Tasman Spirit’ also took place on Aug 14, 2003, when it was broken into two. The ship got grounded on July 29, 2003, but on the 14th of the following month (August) it broke into two pieces and around 30,000 tons of oil-spill created havoc to marine life as well as coastal areas of the city.
The ports and shipping experts have demanded of the government to set up a committee of experts related to engineering faculties and not of people, who are themselves directly or indirectly responsible for berths disaster.
They also asked the government to carryout lab tests of concrete blocks to arrive at the real conclusion and factors behind the collapse of berths.