Gawar port and CEPAC is a sign of Pak china beautiful relationship

Gwadar Port is a warm-water, deep-sea port situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan.

The port features prominently in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) plan, and is considered to be a crucial link between the ambitious One Belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Roadprojects.

Gwadar's potential to be a deep water sea port was first noted in 1954, while the city was still under Omani suzerainty.Plans for construction of the port were not realised until 2007, when the port was inaugurated by Parvez Musharraf after four years of construction, at a cost of $248 million.

In 2015, it was announced that the city and port would be further developed under CPEC at a cost of $1.62 billion,with the aim of linking northern Pakistan and western China to the deep water seaport.The port will also be the site of a floating liquefied natural gas facility that will be built as part of the larger $2.5 billion Gwadar-Nawabshah segment of the Iran–Pakistan gas pipeline project.Construction began in June 2016 on the Gwadar Special Economic Zone, which is being built on 2,292 acre site adjacent to Gwadar's port.In late 2015, the port was officially leased to China for 43 years, until 2059.

Gwadar Port became formally operational on 14 November 2016, when it was inaugurated by Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif; the first convoy was seen off by Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif.

Pakistan identified Gwadar as a port site as far back as 1954 when Gwadar was still under Omani rule. Pakistan's interest in Gwadar started when, in 1954, it engaged the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a survey of its coastline. The USGS deputed the surveyor, Worth Condrick, for the survey, who identified Gwadar as a suitable site for a seaport.^[13] After four years of negotiations, Pakistan purchased the Gwadar enclave from Oman for US$3 million on 8 September 1958 and Gwadar officially became part of Pakistan on 8 December 1958, after 200 years of Omani rule.

A small wharf at Gwadar was completed in 1992, and formal proposals for a deep sea port at Gwadar were unveiled a year later in 1993. Construction on Phase 1 of the project began in 2002 after the agreement for its construction was signed during the state visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in 2001. After completion of Phase 1 in 2007, the first commercial cargo vessel to dock at the port was the "Pos Glory," with 70,000 Metric Tonnes of Wheat on 15 March 2008.

 Currently, Pakistan has two main operating international deep-sea ports: Karachi Port and Port Qasim. During the coming years, their capacity expansion programs are unlikely to keep pace with the expected growth in demand, resulting in a need for a third port to fill the gap.

In particular, Karachi Port has significant physical limitations and will not be able to grow at the same speed as the national growth in demand over the coming decades. These limitations result mainly from its location, which is within the city of Karachi itself, which has seen very rapid growth over the past years. 

In the case of Port Qasim, although having a large physical space for expansion, its possible speed of development is hampered by its up-stream location, which is more than 40 km from the open sea, resulting in long turnaround times for visiting ships. This is not a problem for cargoes that are linked to industries located near the port, but it carries cost-disadvantages for cargoes that have origins and destinations elsewhere.

Against this background, it was deemed timely to construct and inaugurate a third deep-sea port for Pakistan so as to ensure that national development is not hampered by a lack of national port capacity in the future. Given the expected rapid growth in demand for port capacity, it is likewise important to continue expanding the capacity of Gwadar port over the coming decades.

Introducing Gwadar

Location

Gwadar is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea in the western province of Balochistan. It is about 533 km from Karachi and 120 km from the Iranian border. Gwadar Port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Straits of Hormuz, near the key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf.

Gwadar District Demography

Gwadar district covers a coastal zone. Main towns within this zone are Pasni, Gwadar and Jiwani (near the border with Iran)

Estimated population in 2004: 215,000 (Gwadar district)

Geographic area – 12.637 sq. km.

Population density – 14.7 person per sq.km

Coast line – approximately 300 km

Population of Gwadar city – estimated 80,000

Land distances from Gwadar

Ø  Quetta 970 Km

Ø  Turbat 165 Km

Ø  Gabd 120 Km

Ø  Karachi 630 Km

Ø  Ratodero 892 Km

PORT PROFILE CURRENT PORT INFRASTRUCTURE ·         3 -multipurpose berths - each 200 meters long. ·         1 -RO-RO facility ·         1-100 meter service berth ·         4.7 km long approach channel dredged to 14.4 m at outer channel, 13.8 m at inner channel /turning basin and 14.5 m depth alongside berth. ·         Outer channel is-206 m and inner channel width in 155m ·         Turning Basin 595 m diameter ·         The port, currently, has the capacity to handle 50,000 DWT bulk carriers @ 12.5 meter maximum depth.
CURRENT PORT FACILITIES
Port Area	64,000 sq-m
Container stacking area	48,278 sq-m
Reefer Cargo space	(400 points)367sq-m
Empty container stacking area	6,875 sq-m
Storage yard	28,669 sq-m
Transit shed	3,750 sq-m
Hazardous cargo storage yard	1,800 sq-m
Control tower (foot print only)	1,536 sq-m
Buoy yard	1,500 sq-m
Generator building	593 sq-m
Maintenance workshop (general)                   Â Â Â Â	1,440 sq-m
Vehicles Servicing Garage	450 sq-m
Security building	65 sq-m
Common offices for GPA, Customs,	Immigration Several floors, per floor: 4 ,144 sq-m
Mosque	324 sq-m
Operations office and canteen. Per floor:      Â Â   Â	1,742 sq-m
Lorry car park	1,125 sq-m
Future development area	118,575 sq-m
Oil recovery system	1 complete set
Communication
VHF/DSC including INMARSAT-B	Complete system

CURRENT PORT EQUIPMENT

Crafts and vessels

o    2 - Tug boats (each 2400 HP)

o    1 -Survey boat

o    1- Working boat

o    1 -Mooring boat

2 -Pilot boats

CRANES AND YARD EQUIPMENT

5 - Rail-mounted Cranes

a.     2 x 40 tons- 40 m

b.     1 x 16 tons- 33 m

c.     2 x 10 tons-33 cranes

·         2 - 40 tons RTGS

·         2 -10 tons mobile cranes

·         Refrigeration Container Sockets- 400 in No.

·         Power House Main Generators 03 Nos. (1.5 WM each)

·         Power House Emergency Generator (116 KW)

·         12 Fork lift trucks with rated lifting capacity 5 tons.

·         2 Containers reach stackers, capacity 40 tons

·         6 Container tractors, capacity 100 kN.

·         4 Container semi-trailers, carrying one 40' container or two 20' containers

·         4 25 t flat trucks

·         4 10 t flat trucks

·         8 Hoppers, 6 m x 6 m

·         8 Mobile bagging plants, capacity 50 t/h

·         12 Fork lift trucks, capacity 5 t

·         2 Weighing bridges, capacity 80 t

·         2 Fire tender

·         1 Sweeping Vehicle

·         1 Garbage Truck

·         Oil Tanker

DESALINATION PLANT

A desalination plant has been set-up at Gwadar Port to supply 100,000 gallons/day of drinking water to ships calling Gwadar Port