Bidders suspect foul play in Karachi Port Trust’s dredging contract

Karachi Port Trust (KPT) is set to award an important dredging contract to a bidder previously disqualified due to insufficient capacity, sources familiar with the development told Dawn on Wednesday. On July 14, the KPT invited bids for dredging 4 million cubic meters to maintain its navigation channel and the work was to be completed within 120 days. As bids were received from four international companies, three bidders proposed dredging with equipment larger than 15,000 cubic meters capacity. In contrast, one bidder, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), proposed underpowered equipment and was found non-compliant with the timelines and specified quality standards. The initial technical evaluation by the KPT team highlighted the need for a large-sized dredger to complete the job given the soil conditions and work methodology and disqualified CHEC.