ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s sole shipyard in Karachi is no longer enough to fulfill the country’s requirements. The govt requires to shift in the strategic path of constructing a lot more shipyards beginning with Gwadar. The Senate Standing Committee on Defence Manufacturing on Monday observed that Gwadar presents itself as an ideal place for the building of the latest shipyard as there is no such service in the region. It was highlighted through the conference that neighboring India has over 43 shipyards in addition to 50 dry dockyards and Bangladesh has 23 shipyards, becoming a ship exporting nation.
During the time of Partition, Pakistan came to possess 1 shipyard in Chittagong, then in East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh), inherited from the British colonial rulers. The Karachi shipyard was built-in 1957. Highlighting a few of the salient features of the Karachi shipyard, the Senate standing committee was said to that it is headed by an administrator and employs 2, 800 people. To date, 448 ships have been created by the shipyard, including for the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, and Belgium. The shipyard has also developed a navy fleet tanker. Other tasks include aluminium boats, fast-track craft missile, and submarines. It also carries out ship repair work and other general engineering tasks.
The conference was chaired by Senator retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum at the Parliament House and was attended among others by Senators Nauman Wazir Khattak , Nuzhat Sadiq , Mohammad Akram , Pervaiz Rashid , Mohammad Ali Shah Jamote , Minister for Defence Making Zubaida Jalal and Managing Director of Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works ( KS&EW ) Rear Admiral Athar Saleem . The conference also held a briefing on the establishment of the Gwadar shipyard task which will take up an area of 750 acres of land. Mr Qayyum declared that shipyards are considered strategic assets for every nation as they not only contribute to a country’s indigenous commercial and defence pursuits but also generate revenue through ship exports.
He declared that the summary for the building of a shipyard at Gwadar was permitted by the prior govt. Currently, 750 acres of land with 4 kilometres of ocean port has been demarcated and allotted at Sur nullah and funds worth Rs200 million has also been launched. The Senate committee stressed that work on the Gwadar shipyard should be finished on time and under the supervision of the defence production ministry which should also carry out feasibility studies relating to it. Zubaida Jalal declared during the conference that labour and administrative training will be a part of the Gwadar shipyard building task contract.
The committee created a few suggestions at the conference — conducting of value chain research , and working on pricing mechanism and tariff determination for competitive advantage . Moreover , the committee supported the proposal of commercial attaches to work as ex-officio defence attaches in nations where they were published . Regarding the purchase of surplus electricity from the Pakistan Ordnance Factory ( POF ) Solar Plant , Sanjwal , the committee was said to by the POF that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority had approved the case and licence had been granted 2 days back .
Consultations with the Islamabad Electrical Supply Company were also in process and after due needs wheeling charges would be paid to the organization, the committee was said to. The Senate committee reiterated that this was 1 example which could be cited as the committee’s success since it had persistently followed up on the task and that other organizations should also pursue tasks relating to generating energy from non-renewable sources and giving surplus electricity to the national grid.