Pakistan International Container Terminal

completed

This is a $33.8 million project to set up a common user container terminal on berths 6 – 9 of the Karachi Port on a build, operate and transfer basis under a 21-year Implementation agreement between the Trustees of the Port of Karachi (KPT) and Premier Mercantile Services Private Ltd. signed on June 18, 2002. The project, known as the Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT), involves mainly acquiring container handling equipment (including two quay cranes) and undertaking a civil works program to improve the container yard and build workshops, as well as to configure the site to its planned operations. The length of the quay is 600 meters, and the fully-developed terminal area will be approximately 220,000 square meters. The terminal infrastructure - water supply, electricity, roads, and communication services -- is already in place.Karachi Port is the main Pakistani port, accounting for about 80% (650,000 TEU) of the country’s container traffic (850,000 TEU). Currently, there is one dedicated container terminal (operated by Hutchison Port Holdings) that handles 300,000 TEU, while a number of smaller stevedoring companies handle the remaining 350,000 TEU. Qasim Port, situated at about 50 km from Karachi, accounts for the remaining 20% of Pakistan’s container volume (175,000 TEU) and has one dedicated container terminal operated by P&O.