The year 1971-72 was very eventful for the
economy of Pakistan in general and Pakistan Shipping in particular. The country
experienced the worst possible crisis in the Eastern Wing, in 1971 when from
March onward all commercial activity came virtually to a stand still and as a
result, shipping could not continue its activities in the ports of Chittagong
and Chalna. The crises culminated in to the full-fledged war resulting in a
forcible separation of East Pakistan. NSC thus lost roughly two third of her
traditional trade i.e. imports & exports from East Pakistan as well as
inter-wing trade and was left only with the imports & exports of West
Pakistan. Exports from West Pakistan too were adversely affected by the labour
unrest. Due to these crisis, the World Bank and the Consortium of aid giving
countries were reluctant to finance Pakistani projects and there was hardly any
thing moving from USA, Canada and Europe except certain negotiated deals
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
EFFECT OF 1965 WAR
The war between India and Pakistan adversely
affected the Corporation’s operations. Although all its services continued to
operate normally but vessels transiting home waters had to be specially re-routed
for security reasons. As a result of rationalization of country’s import below
normal because of the prevailing market uncertainties, port congestion, the
seamen’s strike in the UK, the increased stevedoring, insurance, port dues and
cargo handling costs, affected the Corporation’s revenues. In spite of these
adverse factors the Corporation’s overall commercial operations showed adequate
and satisfactory profits
PAKISTAN STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY LTD
Pakistan Steam Navigation Company
Limited was established in Chittagong , East Pakistan . This company was owned by Mr. Abdul Qasim
Khan a renowned personality and a big industrialist. He also owned Jute Mills,
Leather Fa ctory, Match Fa ctory, Insurance Company and Board Building
Industry in Chittagong .
Two old ships of British India
Steamship (BI) were purchased by Pakistan Steam Navigation Company Ltd for
plying between Chittagong – Karachi .
This company progressed very
well, but, unfortunately ill health of Mr. Abdul Qasim Khan did not allow him
to run the affairs of company effectively. Other family members did not pay
full attention in the affairs of company which led closure of company in late
60’s of last century.
PAKISTAN SHIPPING LINES
In the year 1957-58 it was noted
that Pakistan
did not have any share of cargo in foreign liner trades of the country. No
shipping company had the resources or ships to take on this share. In theory
and according to International norm, the trade was to be divided in the ratio
of 40% for exporting country’s cargo, 32% for importing country’s cargo and
remaining for third countries.
Ship-owners therefore decided on
a scheme to jointly form a company to take advantage of this norm and obtain Pakistan ’s
legitimate share.
Pakistan Shipping Lines
(PSL) which was the brainchild of Mr.
Abdul Hameed Ismail and Mr. Eddie Dinshaw was established on 05 May, 1959. All
nine ship owners were the directors in Pakistan Shipping Companies with share
of Rs.10,000 each. The first office was located in the small premises of Pan
Islamic Steamship at Dunoley Road ,
Karachi Dundee with full
load of Jute under this conference line was SS Chittagong City.
Nine ships were required to meet
the demand of the tonnage. In principal
it was decided to
demand Pakistan ’s
share from the two main shipping conferences – the Karmahom (Karachi – Marmagoa – Home) and the Europe Bay
of Bengal Conference.
The routing of the ships was Karachi – Chittagong /
Chalna – Europe (UK
/ N. Continent) and back.
One ship each from the existing
companies was in the hands of the Board of Directors appointed by the
individual company. By mutual agreement Mr. Qasim Dada was appointed Chairman,
Mr. Eddie Dinshaw the Managing Director and Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Qureshi was appointed
as the Manager.
On Mr. Dinshaw leaving the country in 1971 Mr. Cyrus Cowasjee took over
his functions despite not having any official appointment.
The enterprise was run quite
successfully carrying Pakistan ’s
full share of the trade and enjoying the full benefit of the conference pooling
system till 1963-64 when National Shipping Corporation (NSC) was formed. NSC
demanded a share in the business which had to be reluctantly given to them.
However the arrangement continued till nationalization in 1974 when NSC took
over the entire Pakistan
share and PSL ceased to exist.
Crescent Shipping Lines Ltd
Crescent Shipping Lines Limited
(CSL) was a subsidiary of a Public Limited Company namely Crescent Textile
Mills Ltd (CTML) that belonged to M/s. Muhammad Amin Muhammad Bashir Limited
(MAMB). MAMB Group was the leading exporters of Cotton of the country and were
called as “Cotton King”. During Ayub Khan era the sponsor’s family was one of
the top 22 families of Pakistan .
During early 1959 Field Marshal
Ayub Khan emphasized the need for a Passenger cum Cargo Ship to provide service
between East and West Pakistan and advised Mian Muhammad Bashir to acquire a
ship suitable for the requirement of Passenger and Cargo traffic between the
two wings of Pakistan .
Accordingly, in early 1959 the
MAMB Group established a Private Limited Company namely Crescent Shipping Lines
(CSL) with a paid up Capital of Rs.4.4 million. Its major shares worth Rs.4
million were held by CTML, Rs.0.2
million by MAMB and Rs.0.2 million by 14 sponsors. Since the MAMB Group did not
have the expertise in shipping, it appointed Mr. Gert Beaulau (a German
National, an expert in shipping) as Manager and Mr. Zafar Ahmed, a Senior Chief
Engineer, as consultant.
MAMB (the Managing Agents for
CSL) awarded a contract to M/s. Hitachi Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
Limited, Osaka , Japan
The ship was named as MV Shams
and was delivered on December 17, 1960. The launching ceremony was graced by
Field Marshal Ayub Khan at Sakuranjima Shipyard, Osaka , Japan
MV Shams started regular
passenger cum cargo service from January 1960 between East and West Pakistan
providing an average of 13 round voyages per year on Karachi
/ Chittagong / Karachi route. This service continued till
the fall of Dacca
i.e. till end of 1971. During the disturbances in East
Pakistan in 1971, MV Shams on her last voyage was stuck up at Chalna.
Fortunately she managed to sail out from there with more than 3500 passengers
on board in emergency, before the mines were laid in Pussur River Karachi and disembarked
the passengers at West
Wharf
Keeping in view the difficulties
of the people of Gwadar, Pasni and Ormara, Field Marshal Ayub Khan advised Mian
Muhammad Bashir to acquire a small passenger cum cargo vessel to meet the
requirement of the people of Makran
Coast Pakistan . The vessel was renamed as
MV Kareem.
MV Kareem started regular
passenger cum cargo service from January, 1962 on Karachi
Makran Coast
/ Karachi / Colombo
/ Bombay / Karachi
till August, 1965. After Indo Pakistan War in September, 1965, the vessel was
put on Karachi / Makran
Coast / Karachi
and Karachi / Persian Gulf / Karachi till 1966. The vessel was sold for
scrap in 1967.
During 1972 and 1973 MV Shams was
carrying Pilgrims during Haj season and during off Haj season the vessel was
employed as cargo ship on Karachi / Fa r East / Karachi
route.
Sub-Continent Pilgrim Ships History:
Before the advent of steamships, sailing vessels owned by Indians
catered for this traffic and the Muslim rulers had given adequate support to
this business.
During Mogul times and until the
18th century, pilgrims from India
had the option of traveling to Makkah either by overland caravan or by sailing
ships. The land route via the northwest of India was long, difficult and
hazardous and also involved crossing hostile territories. The Indian pilgrims
generally preferred to go by sea, primarily through the Red Sea, and
occasionally through the Persian Gulf .
However, rampant piracy and a strict Portuguese control over the Indian Ocean
in the 16th century made passage through the Red Sea
a dangerous trip. Most ships traveling from India
to the Red Sea were forced to carry a
Portuguese cartaz, or pass.
The earliest visit by Indians to
Makkah for Haj is a matter of conjecture but it is very likely that such visits
pre-date the Muslim conquests of Sindh in 664-712 AD.
(Because of the location of the Jeddah
Port as the gateway to Makkah as well
as a leading port for Red Sea trade, it
attracted merchants and pilgrims alike in large numbers every year. The people
of Hejaz were fascinated by India
In British
India , Haj continued to get attention. In 1885, the British
government appointed the famous tourist agency Thomas Cook as the official
travel agent for the Haj pilgrimage. The British government affirmed that it
had special obligations to protect the stream of “Muhammadan pilgrims going to
the sacred places at Makkah and Karbala .”
In 1927, a 10-member Haj Committee was constituted, headed by the commissioner
of police, Bombay ,
which was replaced by the Port Haj Committee in 1932.
The largest shipping line
operating from Indian ports was the Mogul Line, which was founded in 1888 and
managed by the British company Turner Morrison. The oldest of the Mogul Line
ships was SS Alawi (built in 1924) followed by SS Rizwani (built in 1930).
These ships were scrapped in 1958 and 1959 respectively. Other early Mogul Line
ships were SS Saudi (capacity 999), SS Muhammadi and SS Muzaffari (capacity 1,460),
SS Islami (capacity 1,200), MV Akbar (capacity 1,600), SS Noorjehan (capacity
1,756) and SS Nicobar (capacity 1,170).
In 1927, Mogul Line ships carried
nearly 20,000 of the 36,000 Hajis arriving from India . In the late 1930s, over 70
percent of pilgrim ships from India
were Mogul Line vessels.
Moghuls Line had the monopoly of
the Haj pilgrim traffic. For about 6-7 months of the year, it carried pilgrims
from India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Bangladesh and Burma to Jeddah, while rest of the
year, the ships were deployed for carrying cargo cum passenger service from
India to the Red Sea ports including Aden and Djibouti.
But soon the Haj committee and
certain sections of the Muslim community approached the Scindia Steam
Navigation Company for berthing its steamers to carry this traffic as some of
the Bengali Muslims were dissatisfied with the services of the agents of Mogul
Line for trying to induce the Indian Government
to close the Calcutta
port for pilgrim traffic. The Scindia Steam Navigation Company on the other
hand was also tempted to get into this lucrative market. They built two new
steamers at the cost of over Rs.50 lahks and started services in 1937.
The entry of the Indian Line into
this traffic received tremendous support and the new steamer El Medina proved
very popular! The Mogul Line soon started a rate war and fierce competition
followed between the two companies in which the Scindia Steam Navigation
Company incurred heavy losses as they were practically carrying pilgrims free.
The Mogul Line too began to carry the pilgrims free of charge, providing them
incentives like an umbrella and a container for carrying holy water. Several
representations were made by leaders both outside and inside the Central
Legislature to arrest this rate war. Finally Sir Muhamed Zafarullah Khan, the
then commerce member intervened and brought about a settlement between the two
companies by which they agreed to quote not less than Rs.115 as the return
passage fare. Despite this agreement Mogul Line continued to charge low fares
whenever the Scindia Steam Navigation Company’s steamer was on berth.
Representations were made again in the Legislature which led to the fixation of
uniform, stable and economic rates, but with the outbreak of World War II,
pilgrim traffic closed down.
After the war Scindia Steam
Navigation Company was unable to cope with the meager share of Haj traffic and
soon withdrew. They strongly felt that the Indian Government had treated them
unfairly by allotting a meager share of 25 percent of the traffic and 75
percent to Mogul Line. Thus another attempt by an Indian company to enter
overseas trade was thwarted and abandoned. Meanwhile, Mogul Line acquired a new
ship Islami in 1936 and two more modern ships Mohammadi in 1947 and Muzafari in
1948.
However, most shipping companies
operating haj service throughout the world had secondhand ships and the
condition of majority of the Pilgrim Ships were
pathetic and deplorable. The overcrowding of Pilgrims onboard the ships
was common as some greedy ship owners sought to make the most of the short but
profitable season. There were only pilgrims on board, so many that the ship
could hardly accommodate them. The shipping companies… had literally filled it
to the brim without caring for the comfort of the passengers. On the decks, in
the cabins, in all passageways, on every staircase, in the dining rooms of the
first and second class, in the holds which had been emptied for the purpose and
equipped with temporary ladders, in every available space and corner human beings
were painfully herded together.
It is also worthmention that most
of the pilgrims who traveled by sea were weak, fragile, old. Some of them died
during voyage and were buried at sea with full merchant marine honour.
The Pakistan Government chartered
passenger ships “Empire Orwell” and British India “Sardhana” and Bombay based Mughal Lines vessels “Islami” and “Muhammadi”
in 1958 for the Pakistan Karachi and Chittagong
Some of the Pakistani passenger
ships which carried pilgrims to Jeddah were as follows:
|
VESSEL NAME
|
OWNER
|
|
Safina-e-Arab (I)
|
Pan Islamic Steamship Co. Ltd.
|
|
Safina-e-Murad
|
Pan Islamic Steamship Co. Ltd.
|
|
Safina-e-Hujjaj
|
Pan Islamic Steamship Co. Ltd.
|
|
Safina-e-Abid
|
Pan Islamic Steamship Co. Ltd.
|
|
Safina-e-Arab (II)
|
Pan Islamic Steamship Co. Ltd.
|
|
Shams
|
Crescent Shipping Lines Ltd. /
PNSC
|
Their main operation was carrying
the pilgrims but they also had some cargo capacity and were used as cargo cum
passenger ships during off Haj season.
In early 1980’s the number of
sailings started falling due to the competitiveness of air travel, with low
cost flights, and sea borne trade started declining. Pakistani pilgrim ships
became more and more older and required heavy repairs and maintenance. It was
thus commercially not viable to run them anymore.
The last ship to perform Haj
service was MV Shams (1994) (under PNSC) before it was scrapped. Thus the sea
borne pilgrimage run effectively ended.
HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT PILGRIMAGE SHIPS
Visit to the sacred center of
Islam, the Centre to which every Muslim turns his face in prayer, seems to many
of the pilgrims like a visit to heaven. They seek God’s mercy, and in the hope
of His acceptance, they seek to renew that covenant with Him and to be purged
of their sins, casting off their past life as a man casts off an old suit of
clothes, knowing that, in the words of the Prophet, he whose pilgrimage is accepted
will return home “free from sin as on the day his mother bore him” The pilgrims
find peace and the sense of purpose which they could find in no other place.
Travelling to Mecca and Madina was always difficult in the
past. In the early days Muslims from all over the world traveled by Foot,
Horses, Donkeys, Camels and by Boats across the Red Sea .
During the long journey some died
of sickness, some were caught by desert storms, and some were looted on the way
by organized armed bandits. Those who survived the extremes of heat and cold,
hunger and thirst or attacks by Bedouin Marauder often succumbed to the plague.
Survivors performed the Haj and it would take years for them to return back
home safely.
With the passage of time and
advance in technology, new mode of transportation came into being. Travelling
by land gradually became easier with roads being constructed and more and more
road transport available. At sea, Boats were replaced with steamships which
moved faster and carried greater number of passengers.
The opening of Suez Canal in 1869
brought regular Steamer traffic from Europe – North & West Africa through
Red Sea to the Port of Jeddah , some 55 miles from Mecca , thus reducing the passage time
significantly over the previous route round the cape of Good Hope. With steamer
traffic, it became commercially viable for shipping lines, throughout the world
to operate for Haj, not withstanding that this trade was relatively short
seasonal one and that these ships were generally put to other use during the
“Off Season”.
PAN-ISLAMIC STEAMSHIP CO. LTD
The
Pan Islamic Steamship Company was established by the legend and visionary Mr.
A. H. Ismail and Mr. A. D. Ahmed who were said to be employee of Muhammadi
Steamship Co. owned by Kasim Dada and Valika Fa mily.
They resigned from company and embarked upon establishing a shipping company in
the private sector under the name and style of Pan Islamic Steamship Company
(PISC) in year 1950
The founders of PISC being ex-employees had
financial restraints thus they tried to raise money by selling shares locally
and almost in all Islamic countries so that funds are raised to buy first vessel.
During the year 1954 PISC acquired two passenger vessels Safina-e-Murad which
was yacht of Shah Fa rooq of Egypt Bombay based Mughal Lines, which was
catering for Pilgrims from Karachi and Chittagong Saudi Arabia Cadiz , Spain
The
company was incorporated at Karachi
One
of the principal objectives of setting-up the service was to carry pilgrims.
Unfortunately
in 1974 when the company was at its peak and had 10 vessels, the company was
nationalized along with other private companies and its flag ship
Safina-e-Hujaj and other were scrapped during the course of nationalization. In
1980 the President of Pakistan on the plea of the Saudi share holders and the
Chairman of the company, denationalized the company and the Management was
taken over by the ex-owners of PISC. The owners did not loose heart and
re-ventured by acquiring Safina-e-Barkat with the financial help of DMI Geneva.
The company also acquired Safina-e-Ismail (II), a cargo vessel and continued
their operation till 1997. After the sad demise of its owner Mr. A. D. Ahmad in
1993, the company could not be managed and it was closed in 1997 by scrapping
its passenger and cargo vessels (Mr. Abdul Hameed Ismail had already left the
company due to sharp differences with Mr. A. D. Ahmad). It was very serious
setback to Pakistani Seafarers as the passenger vessels were employing maximum
seafarers onboard to cater for needs of Pilgrims between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
The
PISC made its mark on the maritime map of Pakistan
i)
The first Pakistani public sector company to commence
passenger cum cargo service between the erstwhile East & West Pakistan in
1950’s.
ii)
The first Pakistani company to carry pilgrims from
East & West Pakistan to Saudi
Arabia
iii)
The first Pakistani company to operate passenger
service Karachi / Bombay
and East Africa route in 1962.
iv)
The first Pakistani company to start cargo service
between East & West Pakistan to United States
v)
The first Pakistani company to start regular passenger
service between Karachi
United Oriental Steamship Company
Before independence the Baksh
family of Chiniot were traders of Cotton and Leather. Their main office was in Calcutta from where they exported these commodities mostly
to Fa r East
After independence they settled
in Karachi and were the main cotton exporters
specially to China .
All was going well until the Korean War broke-out (around 1950), when they
could not find ships for their cargo, as most of the shipping lines refused to
enter the Chinese waters due to Korean War.
Mr. Maula Baksh a young and
dynamic man of Baksh family went to China
and Hong Kong to find mean and ways of exporting cargo to China . In Hong Kong he met several people and managed to find a
ship that could be chartered. In the process he also thought of buying old
ships for his business, and was able to find two ships, naming them Anwar Baksh
and Kadir Baksh.
Back home his father Mian Kader
Baksh was monitoring these developments with great interest. When Mr. Maula
Baksh returned to Karachi
he along with his three brothers Mr. S. M. Anwar Baksh, Mr. S. M. Iqbal Baksh
and Mr. S. Maqbool Baksh under the guidance of their father laid the foundation
of United Oriental Steamship Co. (commonly known as Baksh Line).
In addition they purchased a
marine workshop by the name of Carstairs & Communings Ltd located at the West Wharf , Karachi , from where hundreds of Engineers apprentices were
trained to join the Pakistan
merchant fleet. A total of 12 ships were registered in MMD Karachi in the
ownership of United Oriental Steamship Company from 1949 to 1971.
The following is a precise list
of cargo trades undertaken by them:
1.
About 300,000 tons of coal cargo from Chinwintao , China
to East Pakistan in 1968.
2.
Regular general cargo liner service both
scheduled and unscheduled between Karachi and East Pakistan on own and chartered vessels.
3.
Liner service between Karachi
/ Chittagong / East Africa
/ W. C. India with general cargo, Raw Jute, Jute goods and cashew nuts in
competition with the established company Bankline of UK.
4.
Carriage of their own full loads of Pak raw
cotton bales from Karachi to China as other foreign shipping lines had
boycotted to carry cargo from Karachi to China thus jeopardizing export of cotton to China .
5.
Bakshline bought and operated coal burning
steamship Kader Baksh 5,000 DWT built 1919 and Moula Baksh 7,500 DWT built 1915.
Subsequently Kader Baksh and Moula Baksh were converted to oil burning at Hong
Kong and Karachi
respectively.
6.
One
of the ship namely SS Ilyas Baksh was captured by India
in 1965 war. Another vessel Anis Baksh was destroyed by enemy operations in1971
in Chittagong and yet another vessel Anwar Baksh
was captured by Indian Navy in Bay of Bengal .
The rest of four ships (Maqbool Baksh, Kader Baksh, Maula Baksh & Iqbal
Baksh) were taken over by the Government in 1974 under nationalization policy.
7.
Pakistan Shipping Lines was formed jointly by
all Pakistan Ship-owners
around 1960 to operate a regular liner service between UK North Continent and Pakistan .
Baksh Line nominated their vessels continuously to fulfill the tonnage
requirement to this International liner trade.
Chittagong Steamship Corporation Ltd
At the time of partition there
were very few industrialists and one of them was Mr. Eduljee Dinshaw. He had
business interest in all major English companies like Ralli Brothers, Forbs
Campbell, Greece Cotton etc. In 1959, Mr. Eduljee Dinshaw established a company
in East Pakistan by the name of Chittagong
Steamship Company in which famous parsi family of Mr. Jamshed Marker was also a
shareholder. Initially this company was given premises for office in East Pakistan by Mr. Abdul Ahad a Bengali Muslim
businessman. He was also Director of this shipping company. Later Mr. Dinshaw bought Ralli Brother Building Wood Street , Karachi
This Public Sector Company was
also sponsored by the families of Mr. Minocher Dinshaw, Mr. Godrej Kandawala
and Mr. Jamshed Marker. As there was not much response from the public in East
and West Pakistan the remaining shares were
taken over by Trans Oceanic Steamship Company.
Though the Company was registered
in Chittagong with Head office there and Karachi regional office at Ralli
Brothers Building ,
the Management of the Company was entirely in the hands of Mr. Eddie Dinshaw
who carried out day to day business from his office at 260 R. A. Lines, Karachi .
The first
vessel purchased by the Company
and registered in 1959 in Chittagong , was “ss Chittagong City Dacca City ”
in Chittagong .
Both these vessels started plying between Karachi
/ Chittagong /
Chalna. Later these vessels were subsequently scrapped in 1972.
In 1970
an order was
placed in Sunderland to
build a cargo
vessel for the Company
which was delivered in January, 1972 and
registered on 23rd January, 1972 at Karachi as “MV Ocean Envoy”.
This brand new vessel was taken over by the Government
at the time of nationalization in 1974 and handed over to PSC, later after
merger of PSC & NSC in 1979, it became a part of PNS fleet.
THE TRANS OCEANIC STEAMSHIP CO. LTD.
The Company was established in
1949 at Karachi
with head office at 260 R. A. Lines, by the families of Mr. Minocher Dinshaw
and Mr. Godrej Kandawalla. Mr. Eddie Minocher Dinshaw was the Managing Director
from its inception. The company commenced operation by plying their ships
between Karachi / Chittagong / Chalna.
The first vessel Binfiled was
purchased but was sold very shortly without registering. Then a coal fired
steamship was purchased which was named “Ocean Endeavour I” which after plying
for some years was sold subsequently in sixties.
In mid fifties there was shortage
of coal and the company arranged to charter several vessels on behalf of the
Government of Pakistan to transport coal for Karachi
/ Chittagong from China .
After 1971 the company continued
to ply their vessels abroad by chartering to foreign companies. At the time of
nationalization the company had the following vessels.
Ø
Ocean Energy … Built 1953
Ø
Ocean Endurance … Built 1966
Ø
Ocean Endeavour … Built 1965
The company
also owned Old Ralli Building Talpur Road , Off I.I.
Chundrigar Road., Karachi which was
also taken over
by the Government after nationalization of shipping in 1974. This building
has covered area of 9,856 square meters.
Karachi Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
Importance of the Port of Karachi
The geo political situation in
the sub continent and the Arabian Peninsula ,
also population migration in the 30s and 40s drove many entrepreneurs of those
times to cross the distance barriers. The southern ports of Cutch and Gujrat
were vital links of the Karachi Port and Seth Hosainbhai Aboolally, the Head of
Bandukwala Fa mily who were
established in the city since 1885, built with local expertise cargo cum
passenger ship SS Haydri at BABA Island (Karachi ).
This vessel actively traded on the West Coast India route till 1944. After a
short gap Karachi Steam Navigation Company Ltd. (KSNCL) was registered in Karachi with their first
vessel “Pakistan Progress” which had the honour to fly Pakistan Flag for the
first time in far away ports. This was followed by delivery in UK of “Pakistan Prosperity” in 1950 at the hands
of Wife of High Commissioner Begum Rehmatullah in the presence of Lord Mayor of
London .
Pakistan Promoter, Pakistan Progress , Pakistan
Protector joined the fleet to establish and consolidate the vital sea trade
between Karachi and then East Pakistan ports of Chittagong , Chalna. KSNCL
also successfully competed the then dominance of British India (BI) fleet both
on the coastal and the Persian Gulf routes.
KSNCL also provided a much needed link with Gwadar
Port for export of dry fish to Colombo .
THE GULF STEAMSHIP LIMITED.
The
Millwala family in pre-partition India
had a well established Iron and Steel business and were ship breakers with
offices in Bombay and Cochin
The said vessel, steamship
tanker, was immediately given on time charter to Caltex Oil. Thus with the
change of vessel flag to Pak Flag, SS Mushtari under Gulf Steamship Ltd became
the first tanker to be operated under Pak Flag earning valuable foreign
exchange for the country.
This began historical start of
“The Gulf Steamship Company Ltd.” in the port of Karachi Fa khruddin
M. Millwala and his younger brother Ibrahim M. Millwala. They migrated from Bombay at the time of partition to settle in the port city
of Karachi and
established their offices.
The trade between East & West
Pakistan was flourishing and shipping services were the key link. With growing
experience in shipping the family soon invested in acquisition of a cargo ship
and gradually built up a strong fleet. There was no looking back and at one point
of time the private family company, owned and operated 10 ocean going vessels
under their Gulf Steamship Ltd and East Bengal Steamship Ltd, which was their
second shipping company incorporated in the former East Pakistan.
With Buoyant trade and commerce
activities, the growing challenges of those times necessitated the family to
make their shipping business into a publicly listed company. In pursuance of
their objective the Millwala family floated a new company namely “The Gulf
Shipping Company Ltd” and listed it on the Karachi Stock Exchange at the
beginning of 1970. The public company then acquired the assets of Gulf
Steamship Ltd.
However, political troubles in
East & West Pakistan led to war with India in December, 1971. The Gulf
Shipping lost two of its ships in the said war. One, MV Mustali sunk while
anchored in Chalna by bombardment while its prized vessel in the fleet and of
most recent 1961 built at that time, namely MV Baqir, was taken over and
claimed as war booty by the Indian Navy.
The Gulf Shipping Company Ltd.
was thus after the 1971 war, left with only one vessel namely MV Mansoor of
about 15,000 DWT. The Management competence and sagacity saw it overcoming all
odds and with one vessel the company became once again profitable having managed
to pay its liabilities to creditors etc. for the losses suffered in East Pakistan . However, the new Government nationalized
the shipping industry in 1974 and merged all the nationalized shipping
companies into new single entity company named as Pakistan Shipping
Corporation.
EAST & WEST STEAMSHIP CO
Late
in the year 1946, the Partners of Cowasjee & Sons, who had till then, prior
to World War II, considerable experience in chartering ships for their coal and
salt business decided to enter into ship-owning. Led by Rustom and Noshirwan
Cowasjee, they purchased a World War I built ship “Seringa”, took delivery of
her on 27th January, 1947, and renamed her “Firoza”. As Karachi was not then a port of registry she was registered
at Bombay.
As interesting interlude, pre war
Lloyds Register of Ships record shows Mr. Minocher Cowasjee as the owner of the
Bucket Dredger “Edward Jackson”. This dredger was sold for scrap by Karachi
Port Trust. She was repaired and re-commissioned by Mr. Minocher and his
colleague Mr. Hashim Ghanci a famous scrap merchant and chartered to the
Gaekwar of Baroda who was then setting up Port Okha and she became the nucleus
of the development of that Port.
The first partnership named East
& West Steamship Co., consisting of nine members of the Cowasjee Fa mily was formed and registered at Karachi on 6th
August, 1947.
(Cowasjee family originally
belonged to “Variaw” – a port near Surat Karachi in 1860 – at that time
Karachi Port
Meanwhile these same owners
purchased thirteen minesweepers from the Royal Indian Navy of LOA 153 feet and
about 450 GRT. The purpose was to convert them into small coastal ships to
trade on the west coast of India
upto Colombo and to the Persian
Gulf ports. Four of these ships were converted to cargo carriers
at the Cowasjee owned shipyard of British India Engineering Works at Karachi . The first to be
named “Fa tima”, after the first lady
of Pakistan , became first merchant
ship to be registered in the newly established Port
of Registry at Karachi on 11th August, 1948.
Further conversions were abandoned as the coastal trade had died down
gradually.
The next to join the fleet was Fa kira. Later more ships were acquired and the
Pakistan Merchant fleet took shape and became a reality.
At the time of partition the port of Chittagong ,
the only port in East Pakistan was very small
and underdeveloped. Drafts at the Karnaphuli
River port of Vishakapatnam Karnaphuli River where port of Chittagong
Mostly the ships carried rice and
general cargoes from Karachi to Chittagong
and return via Calcutta or Vishakapatnam with
coal cargoes and jute for Karachi .
A round voyage took anything upto 100 days. This continued till 1956 when India stopped coal shipments to Pakistan .
With the increase of the fleet
year by year and development of Chittagong
Port and tea and paper industries all
over East Pakistan the inter coastal trade
flourished. However shortage of shipping space continued to be felt till late
50s, putting “premium” on freight rates.
Another venture of the East &
West Steamship Co. was in the field of Salvage. Until 1952 this side of
shipping remained the sole and close preserve of German, Dutch and Danish
Companies. East & West broke this stranglehold to become the first company
in South Asia to enter this field to the great
displeasure of the north Europeans. In 1952 they took from the British
Admirality a Salvage Vessel on a five year bareboat charter. Manned by German
officers and Pakistani crew under the personal supervision of Partners of East
& West, many stranded and distressed ships were salvaged by them.
The most famous case was that of
the Norwegian Ship “Telodo” which ran aground whilst outward bound from Karachi in June 1952, and
found herself stranded due to very rough weather and swell. On Clifton beach, she became
a sightseers target every evening when cars could drive around her at low tide.
After strenuous combined efforts of East & West’s “Salvigil” and small
coasters combined with the barge fleet of Cowasjee & Sons she was
eventually re-floated. Her entire valuable cargo of 5,000 tons was safely
landed and transported by road via Clifton
to Keamari. For this enterprise Lloyd’s Underwriters awarded to the Cowasjee
the highest recorded salvage which remained in the Guinness Book of Records for
over 14 years.
Upto 1956 Pakistan ’s North Western Railway
and East Bengal Railway were entirely dependent on coal for their engines. This
coal was supplied by India
over its land borders and partly be sea. India suddenly decided to curtail
its supply leaving Pakistan Railways and Government in quandary. Large stocks
of coal were urgently required. International Coal markets were not prepared to
supply the quantities required.
The ministry of Industries under
whom the Coal Commissioner operated called upon Mr. Rustom Cowasjee to use his
thirty year connections with British Owners of coal mines in South Africa . Mr. Cowasjee together
with Mr. Dinshaw who were the largest bunker coal suppliers in Pakistan
managed with their old connections to induce the mine owners for supply an
emergency supply of 750,000 tons.
Timely transport was the next
hurdle and Government unilaterally decided East & West to be the sole
ship-owner capable of arranging such quantities in the short time required and
placed an order for 400,000 and 350,000 tons each to Karachi
and Chittagong
respectively to be transported in chartered ships. This was done within a
period of six / seven months most successfully at a fixed rate per ton to
government. During the period 1947-1974 East & West had owned 18 ocean
going ships.
As the shortage of shipping
between the two wings continued due to the inordinate delays at East Pakistani
Ports, the company formulated a new concept of a scheduled cargo cum passenger
service and for this purpose purchased in 1961 a German passenger cum cargo
ship to be named “Rustom”. Heavy opposition to this concept was raised by other
ship-owners resulting “Rustom” not being allowed to operate according to this
concept, despite prior approval
having been granted
by Government. With the great perseverance of Mr. Ardeshir Cowasjee for
almost one year, government eventually agreed to allow the 26 day round voyage concept.
This service was started in 1962 and followed by other ship-owners who had then
strenuously opposed same. The “Rustom” continued to be the most favored ship in
the inter-wing traffic till joined by the purpose built “Ohrmazd” in 1968.
Later ship remained the pride of East & West Steamship Company fleet till
nationalization of Private Shipping by Government in 1974.
After the separation of the two
wings of Pakistan , “Rustom”
and “Ohrmazd” traded successfully between Karachi
and Northern Europe , the latter achieving the
highest daily rate of charter at that time for a ship of that size.
True history must record all
facts available. During their ownership East & West lost two ships at sea.
The first was “Fa kira” in February, 1956 in the China Seas port of Saigon Karachi as “destitute seamen with no baggage”.
They were surprised by a demand from the airline, it turned out that the crew
had managed to salvage much more than their personal belongings including the
ships crockery cutlery and linen before abandoning ship. The sole exception was
the second mate Mr. Abdul Jabbar Randev who was the last to leave the ship with
only her compass and log books in true maritime tradition. Pakistan Government
honored Mr. Randev for his bravery under distress. After retiring from sea life
Capt. Jabbar served meritoriously as Principal Officer Mercantile Marine
Department for many years.
The other loss was that of the
“Minocher Cowasjee” in 1957. Whilst on a voyage from Tientsin in North China to
Antwerp via the Cape of Good Hope, off the coast
of Madagascar ,
the ship suddenly stopped sending her noon report to the owners who promptly
alerted the agencies in the vicinity. With the assistance of underwriters an
air sea search / rescue operation was organized for over ten days without
success and the ship was declared lost with all hands on board.
The erstwhile owners also took
pride in their standard of maintenance of their ships. They mention two
episodes demonstrating this. The first, in 1965 after the Indo-Pak war, the
Government was badly in need of coal to be imported from China and against the protest of the owners,
ordered the “Fa kirjee Cowasjee” then
40 years old to proceed in ballast to North China
in full cyclone season. A foolhardy direction by marine standards. The ship
encountered heaviest gales in the China seas to the extent that the
Master reported moving backwards for three days in his noon reports. She
eventually made it to Tientsin to the great
relief of the government officer who gave the order, and the owners who cared
for their crew.
In July, 1966 the same ship, then
41 years old, whilst on voyage from Karachi to Chittagong in the Bay of Bengal
in heavy monsoon received a distress call from a sinking Greek Ship. Being the
nearest ship in the vicinity the Master gave full speed ahead to his Chief Engineer
who responded by reaching a speed of 15 knots with the whole ship shuddering.
They succeeded to rescue several seamen.
A year later owners sought
government permission to scrap this ship which was promptly refused owing to
the past record. The Director General, a Commodore from Pakistan Navy was eventually persuaded to grant the request
when his attention was drawn to the fact that the ship was two years older than
him.
Muhammadi Steamship Company
The National Line.
To cater the growing need for
promoting coastal trade between the two wings of the country, on which no
Pak-flag ships plied, the establishment of the Muhammadi Steamship Company
Limited was conceived. The company was incorporated on May 12, 1947, a quarter
ahead of the country ‘s becoming a sovereign Muslim State
In August, 1947, Mr. Muhammad Ali
Habib, Mr. Rustom Cowasjee and Mr. Kasim Dada went to London to fetch ships for newly established
shipping company. Muhammadi Steamship Company Ltd.
Apart from looking ships, they
started looking for Muslim shipping men from India and recruited Mr. M. Abdul
Hameed Esmail, Haj Manager of Scindia Steamship Co. as General Manager and Mr.
A. D. Ahmed from the same company as Assistant Manager. K. R. S. Captain who
had marine experience as a Master Mariner and Pilot of Bombay Port was
appointed Marine Superintendent for Muhammadi Shipping.
Muhammadi purchased their first
ship “Al-Ahmedi” and got it registered in Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) Karachi in 1948.
Mr. Muhammad Ali Habib along with
Mr. Kasim Dada were major share holders of the company till 1959-1960. However,
after their departure from the scene, company went into deep financial crisis.
Mr. Fa khruddin
Valibhai who was one of the sponsoring Director intervened into the affairs of
the company and became Managing Director / Chairman by buying the controlling
shares of Company. He immediately took drastic steps to revive the company and
started replacing old vessels with secondhand modern cargo vessels of lesser
age. In 1967 he also placed an order for the first ocean going vessel to be
built by Pakistan
to Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Ltd.
The new ship was named “Al-Abbas”
popularly known as “Pride of Pakistan” or “Jewel of Muhammadi”. After being
fully in operation she was plying between Karachi
– Chittagong
route on liner basis. Her commercial performance was excellent. Unfortunately
during 1971 war, the ship was badly damaged by Indian Air Force bombardment at Chittagong and was later
declared as total loss. Another order was placed with Russian Shipyard for a
new vessel “Al-Abiden”.
During the chairmanship of Mr. Fa khruddin Valibhai, the company’s performance
increased by leaps and bounds. Apart from running a shipping company, the owner
also established a workshop by the name of Muhammadi Workshop at Keamari to
cater for repair of not only Pakistani ships but also foreign flagged vessels.
Apprentices were also recruited as future Marine Engineers. Fa mous Muhammadi House on I. I.
Muhammadi Steamship Company
Limited happened to be one of the first few quoted companies, by getting
enlisted on the Karachi Stock Exchange in 1949. The record of dividend
disbursement by the company specially from 1964 to 1970 was noteworthy.
Other features were as follows:
Ø Al-Sayyada of Muhammadi Steamship Company was
the first ship to be dry docked at Karachi Shipyard.
Ø
Al-Abbas was the first merchant ship built in
Karachi Shipyard. The President of Pakistan Field Marshal Ayub Khan, was the
Chief Guest at the launching ceremony of “Al-Abbas” at Karachi Shipyard.
Ø Muhammadi Steamship Company was the first
shipping line to be listed at Karachi Stock Exchange in 1949.
Ø However, when shipping was nationalized in 1974,
Muhammadi Steamship Company, Muhammadi House and Muhammadi Workshop became part
of Pakistan Shipping Corporation (PSC) and later of Pakistan National Shipping
Corporation.
Nationalization
In 1974 the Federal Government decided to
take over the management and control of entire shipping in Pakistan
Mr. Rustom F. Cowasjee, a
former shipping tycoon, was nominated Chairman of the Pakistan Shipping
Corporation, and Mr. Mohsin Ali Shaherwala, a former Director of the Pakistan
Shipping Lines, was made the PSC Managing Director.
Mr. G. Ahmad, a retired
civil servant was named the NSC Chairman and Mr. A. D. Ahmad, Managing Director
of the Pan Islamic Steamship Company was appointed the new NSC Managing
Director.
This arrangement also did not prove
satisfactory, as the two Corporations tendered to undercut each other rather to
compete with other International operators.
Impact of 1971 War:
1971 War and subsequent emergence of Bangladesh East Pakistan and another four were seized at sea by the
Indians. This meant a loss of about 13 to 15 million dollars (71-72 prices) for
replacing the tonnage, besides deprivation of so many earning units just when
the nation needed all the foreign exchange. There were some vessels which had
to be retired. The shipping industry in general suffered other losses too,
apart from loosing the earning units. There were heavy payments due to war risk
insurance premium. Worst still, Pakistani trade had got dislocated with the
result that most of the ships became idle for a period before rehabilitation of
the trade could take place. The entire shipping was in doldrums.
The Facts About Merchant Shipping in Pakistan
Role of
Merchant Navy:
Merchant Navy plays a vital role in the economic and
Industrial development of a country. History has shown that all the leading
maritime nations of today had given great importance to the building up of an
efficient fleet of merchant ships in the earlier stages of their progress. In
fact it will not be incorrect to say that these very nations owe much of their
importance, progress and prosperity to this basic form of sea transport.
Geographically Pakistan is situated at the north
eastern corner of Arabian Sea with a vast
coast line of about 1100 kilometers. No country with such a long coast line can
underestimate the significance of shipping as an important economic activity.
Thus a strong and active merchant marine is essential for our country,
not only for commercial reasons also for national defense.
Background:
On independence in 1947, Pakistan
inherited one deep sea port of Karachi in West Pakistan and a River Port of
Chittagong in East Pakistan which was very
small and undeveloped. Draft at the river port was very low ranging between 22
- 24 feet at high tide. Also there were 3 ships: one of 7000 tons, the second
of 1800 tons and the third an oil tanker of about 16000 tons which belonged to
Millwala family as they brought this tanker from India
Incidentally just before partition, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
asked Mr. Rustom Cowasjee to assist in the formation of a shipping company. He
foresaw the necessity of merchant fleet particularly in view of the great
distances separating the two wings.
Mr. Cowasjee, the only shipping man in the new Pakistan India
The Bantwa Memon community was the largest group of Muslim Traders in
undivided India Kathiawar . They were also known to Mr. Cowasjee who
operated a Stevedoring and Ship-handling company in thirties in five ports of Kathiawar .
The commercial strength of these merchants could be judged by the fact
that Sir William Currie, the then Managing Director of British India Steam
Navigation Co, the tycoon of British Shipping, used to personally visit them
every year in the small towns braving the heat and dusty roads.
Mr. Habib coordinated with these merchants to join in forming Muhammadi
Steamship Co. Ltd. Prominent amongst them were:-
Ø
Mr. Mirza Muhammad Ispahani of M. M. Ispahani – Dacca
Ø
Mr. Valli Muhammad Dada of Hussein Kassim Dada later Dada Ltd
Ø
Mr. Abdul Rehman Abdul Gani later ARAG Ltd
In August 1947 Mr. Muhammad Ali Habib, Mr. Rustom Cowasjee, and Mr.
Kassim Dada went to London Mount Kyllene
On the return of the these promoters, Karachi Laxmi
Building , Bolton Market, Karachi
However dependence on foreign chartered ships could not be reduced
immediately. In 1947 alone foreign chartered ships performed 20 voyages.
Seeing heavy drain of foreign exchange and to create public interest in
shipping business the Government declared the ports of Karachi
& Chittagong as port of Registry Pakistan
In August, 1948 the first ship to be registered was "Fa timaFa tima Jinnah)
GRT 671. It belonged to Cowasjee Fa mily.
It was followed by AI-Ahmadi of GRT 5185 belonging to Muhammadi Steamship
Company Ltd. From 1947 to 1951, there was a little tonnage under the Pakistan
Flag and the inter-wing trade was significantly run by foreign shipping lines.
The capital for investment was short and the managerial capability
shorter still, yet entrepreneurs came forward gradually to built up a merchant
fleet, albeit an old one.
In this connection, however, it may be remembered that immediately after
the termination of the Second World War, ships of recent built were just not
available or if a few were available, the prices demanded were phenomenally
high. There were also a great many restrictions on sale and transfer of flags
of recent built ships in a large number of countries. Under those
circumstances, Pakistan
Within a decade, the fleet size rose to 21 in 1957 with total Dead
Weight Tonnage (DWT) 168932. By 1960 Pakistan
As far as recruitment of crew was concerned it was no problem. Traditionally
this area has been providing seafarers to international shipping for some 150
years when ships under its own flag were non-existent. The Pathans from Swat
(NWFP) (as engine crew), the Bengali's from East Pakistan, Kutchie's, Kokani's
and Balochs from Karachi (as deck ratings) have been going to sea in British,
German and other ships since long.
However, there was a dearth of senior
officer specially Masters, Chief Engineers & 2nd Engineers. On
most of the ships they were of European countries such as Britain , Germany ,
Norway , Poland and even from Turkey
The worth-mentioning Pakistani companies
which entered in the shipping arena at that time were:
Ø
Muhammadi Steamship Co.
Ø
East & West Steamship Co.
Ø
The Gulf Steamship Ltd.
Ø
Karachi Steam Navigation Co Ltd.
Ø
Trans Oceanic Steamship Co Ltd.
Ø
United Oriental Steamship Co.
Ø
Pan Islamic Steamship Co.
In 1963 the Government decided to establish
National Shipping Corporation (NSC) with a view to provide safe and efficient
shipping service in both international and inter provincial routes.
Within a period of about eight years, its
fleet expanded to 32 ships in 1971. By then the private shipping companies had
a total of 25 ships belonging to various companies which were mostly very old.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)