Two vessels collide at Karachi Port

F.P. Report

KARACHI: Two commercial vessels collided at Karachi’s South Asia Port Terminal (SAPT), halting traffic of ships for a while.

According to reports Happg Loyed’s Tolton collided with Hamburg Bay of LNL Shipping Line, which was already being anchored at the port. “Approximately 55-60 containers from the ships fell into the deep sea,” said port authorities.

However, spokesman Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Shariq Farooqui, clarified the incident has happened at commercial terminal, which is operated by private party. The KPT spokesman said that incident hasn’t halted traffic at the port but a specific terminal.

Meanwhile media report said that initial investigation has revealed that the pilots of Karachi Port Trust (KPT), who took charge of the vessels, are responsible for this incident. The KPT’s pilots know deep sea routes and they tug the ships to the port. The sources further claimed that the containers are floating toward the channels made for breaking heavy waves and could possibly damage them if a proper action for removing the containers is not taken on time.

The authorities claimed that they have started an operation to remove the containers in the sea and after clearing the route of ships, the port would be reopened. In the meanwhile, an investigation into the collision has also started.

KPT officials said that their investigation team is trying to find out the reason for the accident and will submit a report after their return from the site of the collision.