Another cargo ship runs aground at Port Qasim

KARACHI: Another ship ran aground at Port Qasim in Karachi on Tuesday morning disrupting the normal activities at the port.

Efforts were under way to move the ship named ‘High Prosperity’ carrying hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel back into the deep water. The ship got stuck in the premises of Port Qasim at 7:30 am near the Bundle Islands.

Sources said the ship ran aground when its engine developed a fault at its berthing. A Port Qasim’s spokesperson said the authority had been trying to find the reasons behind the ship incident. The incident disrupted the normal activities at Port Qasim as the berthing of another ship was cancelled after ‘High Prosperity’ got stuck. On November 3, 2021, cargo vessel (MV) Heng Tong 77 that had also been stuck at the Karachi Port earlier in July and later rescued and berthed at Karachi Port, had left the port for Dubai.

The Karachi Port Trust, after payment of the port charges and other expenses to the authorities, had issued port clearance certificate to the shipping agent. The vessel, stuck at Karachi’s Seaview beach was re-floated on September 07 after multiple failed efforts and later berthed at the port. After the vessel ran aground at Seaview beach in Karachi in July, the Pakistan Navy along with other maritime stakeholders had safely completed the de-fuelling process of the ship to avoid an environmental disaster.