Pakistan’s two main ports remained active on Thursday, handling a combined 179,335 metric tons of cargo despite rising regional tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty surrounding possible peace talks between Iran and the United States.
According to official details, the Karachi Port Trust handled 142,182 metric tons of cargo over the past 24 hours, while Port Qasim Authority processed 37,153 metric tons across its terminal network.
At Port Qasim, five coal-carrying vessels were either berthed or waiting at the outer anchorage. These included M.V. Mercury Sky, M.V. Eastern Kalmia, M.V. Kobayashi Maru and M.V. Apiradee Naree, which were collectively carrying more than 270,000 metric tons of coal from Mozambique, Indonesia and South Africa’s Richards Bay terminal.
In addition to coal cargoes, M.T. Ocean Princess-1 was berthed at the IOCB terminal for bitumen discharge, while M.T. Bolan was handling 57,300 metric tons of motor gasoline at FOTCO.
The 180-meter tanker M.T. PVT Avira was anchored offshore carrying 40,000 metric tons of high sulfur fuel oil for FOTCO. Another tanker, P. Aliki, is expected to discharge 73,000 metric tons of crude oil at Karachi Port.
Karachi Port also handled 80,622 metric tons of containerized cargo on Thursday, including 45,312 metric tons of imports and 35,310 metric tons of exports.
Activity remained strong at the South Wharf, where vessels including KMTC Mombasa, TS Keelung, KMTC Chennai and ESL Mundra were berthed simultaneously, underlining Pakistan’s role in trade links with East Africa and South Asia.
On the export side, 32,912 metric tons of cement clinker and 1,557 metric tons of rice were processed at the East and West wharves. Vessels including Hosun, Liana and Kever were also loading grain at the same terminals. Karachi Port additionally handled 10,350 metric tons of imported rock phosphate.
At Port Qasim, M.V. Golden Arion was berthed at the FAP terminal carrying 69,300 metric tons of soybean seed, an important commodity for the edible oil and livestock feed sectors.
According to the vessel registry at Port Qasim’s outer anchorage, 13 ships from Liberia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Panama, Malta and the Marshall Islands were waiting to berth. The vessels had arrived from Brazil, Mozambique, Indonesia, the United States and South Africa.
