Gwadar Port
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Gwadar Port is a deep-sea port situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
The port is intended to be a major destination in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. Gwadar Port is owned by the government-owned Gwadar Port Authority and operated by the state-run Chinese firm China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC).
It is co-located with the proposed Gwadar power station.
Location
Gwadar is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea it is in Pakistan's western province of Balochistan. It is about 533 km from Karachi and 120 km from the Iranian border and 380 km (240 mi) km northeast of the nearest point in Oman across the Arabian Sea. Gwadar Port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, near shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf.
Background
The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a development megaproject which aims to connect Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan to China’s northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang, via a network of highways, railways and pipelines to transport oil and gas.[1]
Various Port projects were proposed at the site. For example:[2]
- Construction of East-Bay Expressway: Rs. 11.000 billion (US $ 103.774 million)
- Dredging of Berthing Areas & Channels: Rs. 2.800 billion (US $ 26.416 million)
- Construction of Breakwaters: Rs. 13.000 billion (US $ 122.645 million)
The Gwadar Development Authority has urged the federal government to allow coal imports through the port.[3]
(In June 2016, China Power International Holding Limited and Hub Power Company agreed to fund the construction of a coal-fired power plant jetty in Balochistan. The jetty was expected to be completed by September 2018, with an uploading requirement of 4 million tonnes of coal annually.[4] However, that jetty appears related to the Hubco power station, located more than 500 km from the Gwadar Port and likely unrelated.)
The Gwadar Port is co-located with the proposed Gwadar power station, which is expected to require 950,000 tonnes of coal if built – likely Indonesian and South African.[5]
In August 2021, the overall port had space to berth two or three large ships with a capacity of 50,000 deadweight tonnage. By 2045, it is expected to berth 150 ships and hold up to 400 million tonnes of cargo. According to the Pakistani government, a functional Gwadar port, the country’s third deep sea port, will meet the “increasing demand for trade” that the existing Karachi and Qasim ports are “unlikely to keep pace with” on their own. However, a 2021 a Port map summarized the following: "The reason for the slow pace in trade at the Gwadar port is that the city does not have basic utilities including power, water, road connectivity, communications (both internet and cellular) and gas. This is affecting work at the port. If it is to become economically viable, the port officials say connectivity issues need to be overcome, so investors come here and do not turn to Oman or Dubai."[6][7]
In September 2021, port operation progress remained "surprisingly slow despite the fact that Gwadar port as transshipment hub has the capacity to outmatch regional ports provided appropriate steps are taken,” according to Commodore (retd) Dr. Anjum Sarfraz.[8]
Opposition
As of August 2021, in the years since China was granted a lease on Gwadar Port, locals have said that China’s presence is undermining their livelihoods and creating local food shortages by allowing Chinese fishing boats to illegally fish in Pakistan’s waters around the port. Baloch militant insurgent groups have also carried out terrorist attacks in protest at CPEC projects.[9]
Project Details of coal jetty
- Sponsor: China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd.
- Location: Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan
- Coal Capacity (Million tonnes per annum): Unknown
- Status: Proposed
- Projected In Service:
- Type: Imports
- Source of Coal:
- Cost:
- Financing:
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "Economic corridor: Chinese official sets record straight," The Express Tribune, March 2, 2015
- ↑ "COPHC Company Profile," China Overseas Ports Holding Company Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., undated
- ↑ "Gwadar port FBR, BoI working on preferential tax policy," Business Recorder, January 22, 2015
- ↑ "Pakistan and Chinese companies have inked an agreement for the construction of a coal-fired power plant jetty in Balochistan," The Express Tribune, June 10, 2016
- ↑ "Grant of Generation Licence No. IGSPL/104/2019," National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, November 13, 2019
- ↑ "Pakistan’s key CPEC port a long way from trade hub vision," Third Pole, August 11, 2021
- ↑ "One of China’s Most Ambitious Projects Becomes a Corridor to Nowhere," Bloomberg, March 2, 2020
- ↑ "Governance crisis continues to delay Gwadar development," The News, September 10, 2021
- ↑ "Protests in Pakistan erupt against China’s belt and road plan," The Guardian, August 20, 2021
Related GEM.wiki articles
External resources
External Articles
Wikipedia also has an article on Gwadar Port. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
