Karachi International Container Terminal

Description

     KICT is among the few projects for the development of vital infrastructure that have been undertaken without any sovereign guarantees. The project compliments the government's plans for building a network of surface transportation that will link the port with the country's remotest parts and eventually the Central Asian republics. Thus, KICT is all set to become Pakistan's primary gateway to the world.

According to the implementation agreement between the sponsors of the project and the KPT, KICT was allocated an area of 13.6 hectares at the West Wharf with a mandate to develop it into a modern Ship and Container handling facility. The allocated space has been judicially utilized to provide rapid throughput of containers and maximum possible density in the container stacking area.

The completed terminal consists of:

5,233 linear meters of Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) crane runways

1,126 linear meters of Ship-to-Shore Crane rail tracks

59,000 sq. meters of new pavement area

708 linear meters of new access road/queuing area computer controlled in and out gate complexes

3 new buildings to house electrical power generating plants, crane maintenance shop and labor building and a services building for a bank, customs clearance services and client offices

2 refurbished buildings to accommodate finance and administration offices and a marine operations control hub

The Terminal: Capacity and Support Facilities

        KICT is designed to provide state-of-the-art marine container handling facilities to multiple container carriers for the first time at Karachi Port. The three-berth wharf of the terminal is spread over an area of 600 meters. Up to three ships can be berthed at the terminal at any one time. The draft at these berths has been increased to 10.5 meters. The terminal has a storage capacity of 8,567 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and is designed to handle an annual throughput of 300,000 TEUs in the first phase of the project and 450,000 TEUs in the second phase.

Terminal Equipment and Facilities

To provide quick and efficient facilities, KICT is fully prepared with the following brand new equipment.

3 Ship-to-Shore (STS) Gantry Cranes

STS cranes are used to load and unload containerized cargo from ships to the shore, or vice versa. They operate on specially laid down rail tracks and considerably reduce the amount of time previously taken to service a container ship. The installation of STS cranes at KICT and their usage in combination with other equally advance equipment will reduce the incidence of the process of relay shipping.

6 Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) Cranes

All equipment at the port operates in unison with each other. As the STS cranes unload containers from the berthed ships, tractors-chassis-combos transport the containers to stacking areas where RTGs stack them in a pre-planned order which is computer controlled.

Additional equipment include:

2 Top Lifts

2 Empty Handlers

18 Tractors

40 Chassis

4 Forklifts

6 Service vehicles

1 Water truck

1 Fuel truck

KICT also has an equipment fuelling facility with a storage capacity of 100,000 liters of diesel fuel, along with a dedicated refrigerated container storage facility.

The operating personnel of the equipment are extensively trained by experts from the manufacturers.

Hi-Tech Functions Maximize Speed and Efficiency

Under an exclusive agreement, KICT is equipped with the most modern computer monitoring and control system which maintains records with total integrity and speed up delivery of containerized cargoes, billing and recoveries.

The very latest computer software help to maintain the smooth functioning of the leading edge computer facilities at KICT. These software are customized to meet the requirements of the terminal.

Instant Communications

Communications at the terminal is maintained through a variety of the most advanced methods like EDI, optic fiber links and radio dispatch. This enables very high levels of efficiency.

Accurate Cargo Tracking

The yard and vessel planning computer software packages allow for instantaneous tracking of containerized cargo.

Integrated Facility

Real time communications and accurate cargo tracking, together with the on-site customs services, bank and the lines' offices, KICT is a complete integrated one-window operation, considerably limiting the time that vessels and containerized cargo spend at the port, and consequently bringing down charges substantially