Sunken truck hampers ships’ movement at KPT

KARACHI:

The trailer truck that fell into the sea at the Karachi Port on Saturday was disrupting movement of ships at that particular point.

Ships cannot dock at Berth No3 and No4 due to the sunken trailer truck. The vehicle laden with a container of 780 sacks of sugar slipped off the ground and fell into the sea, because, according to its driver, Abdul Rafay, "the brakes failed."

The heavy crane of Karachi Port Trust, named Hathi, or elephant, failed to pull the trailer out of the sea. Attempts will now be made to lift the trawler out of the sea with another crane the Pelton having lifting capacity of 50 tonnes.

As per tradition, like ships, the cranes and other equipment of port have names too. On Sunday, KPT hired divers, went underwater to inspect the trailer and tied wires to hook the trailer.

However, the sugar in the container had absorbed water and the load became heavier, officials said adding that the operation to get the trawler out of the sea will resume on Monday.

Meanwhile, officials slaughtered a cow at the Sea View Brach for charity with a prayer to safely complete the refloating operation of the stranded ship.

The operation will be launched on August 15 to refloat container carrier Hang Tong and push into deep sea.

Tides will be high on the date, favouring the operation to pull the mammoth vessel into deep waters. However, preparations for the operation will begin on Monday.