20000405

Saudi ship

given warm

welcome

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The first vessel from the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia 'Saud al Hafoof' was given a warm welcome at Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) on Monday. The Chairman of Port Qasim Authority, Nazar Mohammad Sheikh, along with representatives of shippers and importers, was present at the terminal to greet the Saudi vessel and its staff.

The arrival of the Saudi vessel is the start of major fortnightly shipping service from Port Qasim to the USA. The vessel which sailed on Tuesday with export cargo for Jeddah and the USA, loaded and unloaded 400 containers in all.

Leading exporters and importers who were present to receive the Saudi vessel showed keen interest in the efficacy of the modern RO-RO Saudi vessel having a sophisticated ramp. The vessel transported a large terminal operation vehicle for PIA.

Exporters and importers found the vessel extremely useful for transporting valuable project cargo including plants and machinery, large vans and defence vehicles, etc in addition to the usual containerised cargo. The vessel has the capacity to carry about 2,000 containers beside the project cargo.

It may be pointed out that the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) in collaboration with Sea Consortium has also started a weekly service to Far East from QUICK. The second vessel of the service 'Lanka Mahapola' left Port Qasim last Saturday.