Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) said the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs, headed by its chairperson, Senator Rubina Khalid, held a meeting at the PNSC Building in Karachi on September 06 to discuss the performance of PNSC and its plans.

Chairman PNSC Rear Admiral Jawad Ahmed briefed the Senate Standing Committee about the performance and plans. The Chairperson suggests that oil tankers seven years old and ships older than ten should not be purchased because their terms expire soon.

Chairman PNSC told the Committee that purchasing old ships is easy because new vessels are usually around $70 million to $80 million, with a delivery time of around four years.

Chairman PNSC told the Committee that the PNSC wants more ships to include its fleet to play its role in the national economy more effectively.

The Committee was told during the meeting that the country’s total imports are around $72.9 billion and PNSC needs more ships to handle all these cargo. It was suggested that the general sales tax on purchasing new vessels should be abolished. It was also recommended that investors from the private sector should be invited to invest in the shipping sector.

The Senate Standing Committee will forward its recommendations to the Government for consideration.

According to a PNSC media release, Senator Syed Muhammad Ali Shah Jamot, Senator Abida Azeem, Senator Dost Muhammad Khan, Senator Muhammad Akram and Senator Nisar Ahmed Khuhro also attended the meeting Interim State Minister for Maritime Affairs, Iftikhar Rao and Federal Secretary Erum Anjum Khan were also present.