Canola oilseeds: Port Qasim terminal handles record cargo

Fauji Akbar Portia can handle over four million tons of dry cargo.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s first fully automated dry bulk cargo terminal Fauji Akbar Portia (FAP) at Port Qasim made a record by discharging 16,500 tons of canola oilseed in a day, bettering the previous record of about 9,500 tons achieved at Karachi Port.

A FAP press release on Thursday said motor vessel Panagiotis D carrying about 55,000 tons of canola docked at the 11.5-metre draft jetty at FAP. This oilseed cargo was the largest in a vessel that docked at any port in the country.

The terminal has the capacity to accommodate vessels with 14 metres draft but the current draft is restricted to 11.5 metres. The terminal is being built on nine hectares and is capable of catering to Panamax size vessels up to 80,000 deadweight tonnage.

The terminal can handle over four million tons of dry cargo and provides storage facilities to exporters and importers.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2011.