Gwadar Port’s Strategic Location on The Arabian Sea

Gwadar Port’s strategic location on the Arabian Sea

Rafi Samad

Author- Freelance journalist- news analyst

Key words and phrases:  Gwadar port facilities, road and rail links with Central Asia and Xinjiang, status of port operations, Chagai, minerals export, Reko Diq, copper, gold

Strategically located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the newly developed Gwadar port has the potential to make a major contribution towards promotion of global trade and commerce.

Gwadar is ideally situated along the Makran Coast of Pakistani Baluchistan to serve the following objectives:

·        To facilitate export of copper and other minerals from Chagai and other areas in Pakistani Baluchistan

·        To provide access to trade goods from and to the landlocked regions of Afghanistan and Central Asia to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea.

·        To provide shorter route from China via Xinjiang and Karakoram Highway to West Asia, Africa and Europe.

·        To supplement the in Baluchistan facilities available at the Keamari and Bin Qasim Ports at Karachi for transportation of trade goods to and from the northern and western regions of Pakistan.

Suitable provisions have been made in the design of the port and other infrastructure facilities within the country to meet the above objectives.

The port at Gwadar was planned to be constructed in phases to coordinate with the development of other infrastructure facilities. The first phase was completed in 2004 through financial and technical assistance provided by the Chinese Government. The provisions made during this phase include three multipurpose berths 602 meters wide and 4.5 kilometer long and a 100 meter service berth. To meet the requirement of ocean going vessels 11.5 to 12.5 meters dredging was carried out to create an approach channel and a turning basin of 450 meters diameter. The total cost of construction of the first phase was US $ 248 million out of which US $ 198 millions were provided through Chinese assistance.

The official opening of Gwadar Port was made in March 2005 and Port of Singapore Authority was given charge of the port operations under a 40-year Agreement. After this agreement the first major ship carrying 52000 tons of wheat arrived at Gwadar Port in March 2008. To encourage importers to use Gwadar Port, the Government is offering a sizeable subsidy, but inspite of this, only about 75 ships have arrived at the port so far.