- MV. Epiphania is discharging 68,670 metric tons of Soybeans at Berth No. 12/13, East Wharf at Karachi Port.
- It may be noted that on 11th May, 2019 during 24 hours period vessel discharged 8,020 metric tons of seeds. This is the highest / record discharge ever achieved at Karachi Port during Ramadan. Furthermore overall the ship is discharging well and it is expected that there will be dispatch earnings for the importers.
It is pertinent to mention here that since there is FAP Terminal for bulk cargoes at Port Bin Qasim and quite a few of the mills i.e. end users are located at Port Bin Qasim therefore these cargoes will always be first option for Port Bin Qasim.
In the past occasionally seed ships have been diverted to Karachi Port due to heavy congestion at FAP Terminal but results at Karachi Port have not been satisfactory.
Mian Shakil Ashfaq, Chairman All Pakistan Solvent Extractors’ Association (APSEA) stated that with the present performance of MV. Epiphania, in future more seed cargoes are expected to be discharged at Karachi Port with positive results / dispatch earnings.
All this has been possible due to close coordination between stevedores M/s. Port Star Enterprises, ships agents M/s. Bulk Shipping and Karachi Port Trust.
Zain Sardar, CEO of the stevedoring company M/s. Port Star Enterprises said that during Ramadan with less working hours they have created record of discharging 8,000 metric tons seeds cargo in 24 hours period, after Ramadan during normal working days they can do much better discharge.
Tariq Haleem, Chairman Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association (PSAA) said that this is due to efforts of private enterprise and the support of Karachi Port Trust. In-Sha-Allah in future when the seed cargoes are discharged at Karachi Port then with close coordination and high performance of the existing stevedoring equipments, better output in discharge rate is expected. This will result in reduction of the “cost of doing business” and betterment in the “ease of doing business”.
Tariq Haleem said that private enterprise should step forward and play positive role in the operations of the ports for the benefit of Pakistani importers and exporters. Earning dispatch instead of paying huge demurrage also results in savings of foreign exchange and a better image of the ports of Pakistan in the international shipping market.