Gwadar port dredging to cost five times more

The government has approved the maintenance dredging of a navigational channel of Gwadar Port with an escalated cost of Rs4.7 billion – a drastic increase from Rs1bn estimated in June 2022 – to avoid any mishap to cargo ships or imposition of penalties from Chinese port operators for business loss. The navigation channel of the port was last cleared in 2014-15 but had since developed sedimentation of clay, sand and mud and gravelly coarse sand at most of the places. This was resulting in the diversion of bigger ships as the port could handle around 30,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) ships rather than the designed capacity of allowing 50,000 DWT. Official sources said the key factor behind the cost escalation was that the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs had developed the dredging project in June last year at Rs1bn on guesstimates in emergency circumstances when a couple of 50,000DWT cargo ships had to be diverted due to navigational challenges. However, the costs had to be increased based on a proper study conducted by Pakistan Navy followed by competitive bidding. The project is to take off immediately.