Tanker-cum-utility ship project launched in Karachi

Karachi: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government has adopted a 'vision' for new shipyards and development of shipbuilding industry on a grand scale. He said that the government would move in this direction at a very fast pace, and added: 'Together, we will ensure that Pakistan becomes a leading shipbuilding country in the region, in line with its true potential and ideal location'.

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Stus No 1--first small 'Tanker-cum-Utility' ship, being built by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) for Pakistan Navy.

The Prime Minister said that the shipbuilding is an industry which can act as a catalyst for overall industrial development, leading to economic development, large-scale employment generation and poverty alleviation. 'This is a labour-intensive industry, and is best suited for developing countries like Pakistan,' he added.

Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Managing Director Vice Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Rao briefed the Prime Minister about the significance of the first Small Tanker Cum Utility ship.

He said that two ships of this type were being built by KSEW for Pakistan Navy at a cost of $11 million each. The first ship of this series was launched on Monday, while both ships would be completed by February, 2010. It was the first shipbuilding project at KSEW after 1993, when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto inaugurated a ship built by KSEW for China.

Adm Iftikhar said that the KSEW was becoming a sick industry. 'However, this important shipbuilding organisation is once again reviving, and its performance is increasing to play its due role in the shipbuilding sector'.

He said that replenishment to ships at anchor and in the harbour, logistic support and transfer of personnel to and from coastal stations, act as an attendant vessel during diving operations, towed array transportation, mine laying, mine recovery and torpedo recovery are the primary roles of these ships.

About secondary roles of these ships, he said that these are target towing vessels for surface practice by ships, and salvage operations. These are attendant vessels and for training, search and rescue, and port operations.

The KSEW is the only heavy engineering industry of the country that is catering for shipbuilding, ship repairing and heavy/general engineering requirements. It has played a historical role in transferring of technology and broadening the industrial base of the country. KSEW was established in mid-fifties as a project of PIDC, and was incorporated as a public limited company in 1957.

This company is entirely owned by the government of Pakistan, and is managed by a Board of Directors, headed by Chief of the Naval Staff. Situated on West Wharf, Karachi, and spread over an area of 29 hectares (71 acres,. KSEW has large shipbuilding halls, three shipbuilding berths, two dry docks, fabrication shop, a well-equipped machine shop, and other supporting facilities like carpentry, pipe fitting and light steel fabrication, etc. KSEW is working as an autonomous commercial organisation under the Ministry of Defence Production.