Impact of 1971 War:

1971 War and subsequent emergence of Bangladesh had a profound impact on the Pakistani Shipping sector. Seven ships were captured or destroyed in 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.