The Maritime Safety Committee MSC/85 of December, 2008 of International Maritime Organisation had on its agenda piracy at sea, being the priority item. It was IMO, which drew the attention of U N Security Council by its assembly resolution 2005-A 979 (24). Subsequently UN Security Council passed a resolution 1816(2008), the mandate of which is expiring in December, 2008.
Recently a ministerial conference was held in Nairobi to also address the issue, as piracy is virtually uncontrollable in the Gulf of Aden. Even now passenger vessels are being targeted. With piracy rife off the coast of Gulf of Aden shipowners are turning to security and private military contractors to protect their crews and lower the cost of premium paid to their insurance underwriters.
Due to partial failure of Navy's to protect merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden, many private US based contractors eg Black-water, Harts etc are looking at raising a flotilla of armed anti-piracy vessels for hire and deployment in the troubled waters of Gulf of Aden. Thus, now the role of protecting commercial vessels may be shifted from Navy to private agencies. This is a unique development which may have merits and demerits at large.
It is not only the navies failure but shipping security regulations in force. Since the last 5 years they are white elephant failing the test posed by Somalian piracy. ISPS was enforced mandatory by IMO on all states under solas chapter XI in 2004, July but it has only taxed the ship-owners and brought more fatigue to unarmed ships security officers and it is now being widely contested that being an ISPS compliant ship does not mean that it is secure. With around 120 vessels moving towards Suez or the Indian Ocean daily it is good business for private security contractors. The ship-owners may be too pleased to avail the services of private contractors and under-writers will also be satisfied to shift the cover from Hull policy to war risk policy.
A very serious controversy has been raised in European parliament, as EU Parliament desires that piracy should be defined as criminal act, rather than an act of war. Such a re-definition will enable navies to arrest the pirates and bring them to justice, as believed by the author of new EU resolution.
The resolution passed by the EU parliament Transport Committee, regrets that U N Security Council resolution problematically treated piracy scourge of Somalia as an act of war. The committee urges that piracy be treated as criminal act under International Law. EU feels that if pirates are defined as criminals, it is easier to bring them to justice as piracy being an "Act of War" it is more difficult to go for legal arrangement.
The pirates lawyers, mostly based at London, are arguing the act by Navies was illegal under International Law. Lawyers are seeking protection under Geneva Convention as piracy is defined as an act of war. It is said that London lawyers will negotiate the release of ship and hostages and according to newspapers report the ransom is also paid at London.
While the talks for new UN resolution continue in co-ordination with IMO and it appears that new resolution may establish the right of Navies to arrest pirates and hand them over for prosecution, either in the flag state of the ship ;taking action or a third country in the Gulf of Aden region. It is expected that new UN resolution will explicitly define what Naval authorities can or cannot do.
The maritime lawyers are debating that in terms of insurance, piracy is some time covered as war risk, sometimes as Hull risk. The underwriters are seeking to move cover towards war risk policies, so that geographical restrictions can be imposed, which is more difficult for Hull & Machinery cover under institute Time clauses. Definitions are further complicated by the continuing debate on the right within or outside territorial waters.
According to certain European laws, piracy is defined as armed robbery within territorial waters and different laws apply. There is no agreement yet what constitutes territorial waters, with some in Government and academia argue in favour of broader definition based on exclusive economic zone as per UNCOLAS.
The International Chamber of Shipping is pleading that EU and UN action should help to put down a "firm legal basis" for action against pirates. It is also debated that if pirates have links to terrorists, the ransom payments being made at London will become illegal under UK Law. What a paradox, we are being advised by all to behave whilst London is said to be hub of all negotiations for ransom, and its payment, and London Lawyers are charging hefty sums from shipowners and their underwriters for release of ships and hostages.
We have to keep an eye on new UN resolution, if the new definition covers economic zone, our maritime security agencies will have to keep surveillance upto 200 miles from the coast, ie to cover upto the extent of our 5th province, thus needs for more platforms.
Pak Navy and MSA must gear up themselves to comply with the new expected UN resolution. It is in our interest that UN may enhance jurisdiction upto exclusive economic zone. Indian Navy is active from Gulf of Oman to Gulf of Aden and they are projecting their presence courtesy world media.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Piracy at sea
Newspapers in Pakistan and the world are giving extensive coverage to piracy off the coast of Somalia. I had learned about this act when I had picked up a book at a stall off Regal Chowk in 1958 for only one rupee. "The history of piracy - 1932", written by Phillip Goose, who penned the story of bravery and assaults by sea robbers in the medieval age which were termed as coastal piracy.
However Atlantic open sea daring piracy in 18th century and North African and Chinese piracy in the 19th century, also the contemporary piracy in South Asian seas, crossed all limits. Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca have claimed 40% of world-wide pirate attacks in 2004. Sea piracy has tripled in the last 10 years, but Malacca Strait, according to International Maritime Bureau, is most dangerous, with 200 to 600 ships crossing daily to the Far East.
621 miles of Malacca Strait lies between Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesia) and it narrows down to a width of only 1.5 miles near southern entrance to Port of Singapore. I was personally confronted with pirate attack whilst traversing Malacca Strait near Singapore. The pirates robbed the entire crew of cash and valuables at night, by climbing on a moving ship by putting a rope with hook and they were equipped with speedboat and latest weaponry. The best option is to surrender to avoid loss of life. I recall robberies at Chittagong and Calcutta too, but never heard of hijacking the ship or taking crew as hostage, the unprecedented acts off the Coast of Somalia.
International Maritime Organisation rightly believes that half of the attacks go unreported by shipowners due to rise in insurance premium, so was the case with my ship in 70's. With unprecedented latest seizure of Saudi tanker, Hong King and Korean ships, Somalia has made headlines. Attacks have tripled since 2005 off Somalia coast and 32 accidents were reported only last year. The busy maritime waterway between Somalia and Yemen is a major trade route traversed by about 20,000 ships per year traversing to and from Suez Canal. Somalian pirates have kidnapped over 100 crew members of different nationalities, including Pakistanis and Indians.
It is intriguing to note that release of crew and ships are negotiated mainly by London Lawyers paying 1m to 2m USD and in case of Saudi tanker 25m USD. The estimated yearly loss due to piracy is about 13/16 billion USD, as io learnt at IMO in 2005.
The increase in incidents off Somali Coast prompted the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) to adopt a resolution in the IMO assembly 2005 A 979 (24) to bring the matter to the attention of UN Security Council. I voted on behalf of Pakistan in its favour. However, I also qualified my support by stating that factory ships and deep-sea trawlers of Taiwan and Russia may not exploit the sea resources of Somalian economic zone in accordance with UNCOLAS. The UN Security Council acted by passing resolution 1816(2008) by allowing navies to enter the territorial waters of Somalia to check armed robbery and piracy at sea. This mandate expires in December, 2008.
The Indians immediately seized the opportunity of UN resolution by deploying 4 TALWAR Class destroyers to patrol entrance from Gulf of Oman to Gulf of Aden and Indian Navy claims to have destroyed a pirate ship about 528km south west of Salalah Port, by shelling from INS TABAR. Indian plea of deployment is that their merchant marine ships are suffering a loss of 450,000 USD per month due to delays and are not meeting deadlines, a food for thought for Pakistan Navy too as now not only US and Russian warships, but Indians too are controlling the main sea routes.
The reason of increased piracy is political conflict in Somalia and also Taiwan Trawlers/Factory ships are lifting big fish catch depriving poor Somalian fisherman, who have now become pirates. I am afraid if we do not stop exploitation of our economic zone by deep-sea trawlers, our poverty stricken fishermen may too resort to robbery at sea, thus no licences be issued to Taiwan and Korean trawler owners.
All conflicts arise from economic exploitation and I quote an incidence. When prisoners were brought before Napoleon, their attitude was humiliating towards the King. They said we Russians are far better than you. You fight for wealth and we fight for honour. Napoleon made history by replying, "everyone fights for what he does not have".
The maritime safety committee of IMO is meeting from 26th November to 6th December, 2008 in London where a new resolution on piracy will come up along with safety measures to post sea marshals, or electrification of ships railing and bulwarks and hosing the anchor housing etc also using shiploc, a technological device which uses a satellite tracking system to monitor the ships position to alert, authorities when a ship is under attack. UAVS can be used to monitor large areas around ships. Ship Masters be provided with non-lethal weapons, such as stun grenades, pepper spray and slippery foam dispenser. Ships should have flood lights when traversing pirate zones.
However Atlantic open sea daring piracy in 18th century and North African and Chinese piracy in the 19th century, also the contemporary piracy in South Asian seas, crossed all limits. Indonesia and the Strait of Malacca have claimed 40% of world-wide pirate attacks in 2004. Sea piracy has tripled in the last 10 years, but Malacca Strait, according to International Maritime Bureau, is most dangerous, with 200 to 600 ships crossing daily to the Far East.
621 miles of Malacca Strait lies between Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesia) and it narrows down to a width of only 1.5 miles near southern entrance to Port of Singapore. I was personally confronted with pirate attack whilst traversing Malacca Strait near Singapore. The pirates robbed the entire crew of cash and valuables at night, by climbing on a moving ship by putting a rope with hook and they were equipped with speedboat and latest weaponry. The best option is to surrender to avoid loss of life. I recall robberies at Chittagong and Calcutta too, but never heard of hijacking the ship or taking crew as hostage, the unprecedented acts off the Coast of Somalia.
International Maritime Organisation rightly believes that half of the attacks go unreported by shipowners due to rise in insurance premium, so was the case with my ship in 70's. With unprecedented latest seizure of Saudi tanker, Hong King and Korean ships, Somalia has made headlines. Attacks have tripled since 2005 off Somalia coast and 32 accidents were reported only last year. The busy maritime waterway between Somalia and Yemen is a major trade route traversed by about 20,000 ships per year traversing to and from Suez Canal. Somalian pirates have kidnapped over 100 crew members of different nationalities, including Pakistanis and Indians.
It is intriguing to note that release of crew and ships are negotiated mainly by London Lawyers paying 1m to 2m USD and in case of Saudi tanker 25m USD. The estimated yearly loss due to piracy is about 13/16 billion USD, as io learnt at IMO in 2005.
The increase in incidents off Somali Coast prompted the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) to adopt a resolution in the IMO assembly 2005 A 979 (24) to bring the matter to the attention of UN Security Council. I voted on behalf of Pakistan in its favour. However, I also qualified my support by stating that factory ships and deep-sea trawlers of Taiwan and Russia may not exploit the sea resources of Somalian economic zone in accordance with UNCOLAS. The UN Security Council acted by passing resolution 1816(2008) by allowing navies to enter the territorial waters of Somalia to check armed robbery and piracy at sea. This mandate expires in December, 2008.
The Indians immediately seized the opportunity of UN resolution by deploying 4 TALWAR Class destroyers to patrol entrance from Gulf of Oman to Gulf of Aden and Indian Navy claims to have destroyed a pirate ship about 528km south west of Salalah Port, by shelling from INS TABAR. Indian plea of deployment is that their merchant marine ships are suffering a loss of 450,000 USD per month due to delays and are not meeting deadlines, a food for thought for Pakistan Navy too as now not only US and Russian warships, but Indians too are controlling the main sea routes.
The reason of increased piracy is political conflict in Somalia and also Taiwan Trawlers/Factory ships are lifting big fish catch depriving poor Somalian fisherman, who have now become pirates. I am afraid if we do not stop exploitation of our economic zone by deep-sea trawlers, our poverty stricken fishermen may too resort to robbery at sea, thus no licences be issued to Taiwan and Korean trawler owners.
All conflicts arise from economic exploitation and I quote an incidence. When prisoners were brought before Napoleon, their attitude was humiliating towards the King. They said we Russians are far better than you. You fight for wealth and we fight for honour. Napoleon made history by replying, "everyone fights for what he does not have".
The maritime safety committee of IMO is meeting from 26th November to 6th December, 2008 in London where a new resolution on piracy will come up along with safety measures to post sea marshals, or electrification of ships railing and bulwarks and hosing the anchor housing etc also using shiploc, a technological device which uses a satellite tracking system to monitor the ships position to alert, authorities when a ship is under attack. UAVS can be used to monitor large areas around ships. Ship Masters be provided with non-lethal weapons, such as stun grenades, pepper spray and slippery foam dispenser. Ships should have flood lights when traversing pirate zones.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
'A dream come true'
It was really a dream come true when I was invited onboard first Pakistani double hull tanker M.T. QUETTA built in 2003 with a summer dead weight of 107215 MT, generally termed as AFRAMAX TANKER. Pakistan has tankers, but either single hull or with segregated ballast tanks, all under CAS and phasing out schedule.
On the first sight of this beauty I could not restrain myself appreciating the good decision of the management to enter the double hull tanker fleet before existing tankers are phased out. I did find the vessel excellently maintained and managed by professionals of Pakistan Merchant Marine, inferior to none. I was particularly impressed by the good knowledge of Chief Engineer, Master and other staff of the vessel.
My attachment to new regulation of double hull tanker and phasing out of single hull tankers goes back to 2003, when I represented as expert to draft new regulations on tankers in Maritime environmental protection committee of International Maritime Organisation based at London. I can't forget the night oil burned by most professional team to adopt the definitions proposed by EU and also incorporating Oil Pollution Act of 1990 of USA.
We, at IMO agreed, bearing in mind sad incidents of Exxon valadez, Erika, prestige and also Tasman Spirit that carriage of most polluting types of heavy grades of oil need amendments to Anex I of Marpol 73/78 Convention to which Pakistan is signatory by ratification. The EU block insisted that heavy fuel oil carriage by single hull tankers be restricted by April 2005 near EU coast.
It was also agreed that, any coastal state may deny the right of entry to single hull tankers but due to our insistence, not to impose EU, restrictions and time be allowed to developing countries to phase out, we were accommodated to some extent.
The MEPC agreed to speed up gradual phasing out of single hull tankers notwithstanding a number of limited exemptions, single hull tankers will not be allowed operation beyond 2010. We agreed to enhanced inspection of single hull tankers from the age of 15 years to detect structural weaknesses.
I recall that in freezing winter of December 2003, the final decision to amend Annex I of Marpol conventions 73/78 was taken during the 50th session of MEPC on 4th December 2003 at IMO London and approved by the Assembly. The EU bloc was the driving force to enforce double hull measures and stringent safety measures as per SOLAS to entire world fleet.
The IMO through the marine pollution convention, made double hull tankers mandatory by regulation 13 F. The US OPA'90 became mandatory to world-wide fleet. It was also agreed that all new tankers will meet IMO type 2 hull as per IBCC. While debating, the MEPC also took note of defects in double hull tankers.
I was pleased to see that our first Pakistani Tanker QUETTA complies to Solas requirement of ballast tank coatings as envisaged. Double hull tankers have been seen as the safest alternative to single hull tonnage. It was interesting to see that our M.T. Quetta complies with stringent requirements of SOLAS for tankers and is fitted with inert gas systems as inert gas system is mandatory to tankers of 20000 tons DWT and above.
The new tanker is complying with equipment duplication as per SOLAS which makes steering gears of tankers to be duplicated. I was impressed to see the vessel equipped with navigational equipments also duplicated and maintained excellently.
The tanker was also fitted with mandatory towing arrangements and also complying with MARPOL 73/78 requirements of reducing the consequences of accidents ie stability /sub-division etc. I did see the protective location of segregated ballast tanks, thus reducing the spill after accident.
The world, unlike us, is very conscious of pollution and NGOs like Green Peace, in addition to Port State Control, keep a strict eye. IMO is the international clearing house and is the keeper of a body of International treaties aimed at safety, security and pollution.
I remained involved at IMO in framing safety, security ISPS code and environmental regulations along with members having specialised skill in different faculties of Maritime and environmental sciences, thus everyday was education and flow of knowledge.
I must honestly admit that in spite of framing rules and standards for world-wide shipping, it was my first experience in life physically boarding a double hull tanker and that too of my own country flying Pakistan Flag. It could be anybody's guess how proud I felt that Pakistan has entered into advanced field of double hull tankers.
I am quite sure that this vessel is just the beginning and now falling freight/market will affect the price of double hull tankers, which may have cost 70 mill USD plus to our public sector Pak Flag. The prices will come down.
I must admit that physically inspecting the state of art ship M.T. Quetta fitted with latest technology of B&W main engines and navigations equipment was education to a person who was part of framing rules at IMO for double hull tankers. Heraclitus remarked that "learning is only a means to an end, which is understanding and understanding is the ultimate value in education."
The world-wide recession is taking its toll and I would suggest that our only ship-owning company to take advantage of falling prices by replacing outdated vessels with new tonnage.
I, congratulate the entire nation and particularly maritime fraternity of Pakistan on induction of State of Art vessel and mariners must visit to see for themselves the latest technology. It sends shivers to me if I am asked to command this beauty after quitting sea about 35 years, as technology has changed so dramatically that Anachronistic or Plebeians, will get shock of their life.
TAIL PIECE There is no denying that education is an essential preparation for life and work in advanced economy and maritime faculties too. Modern economics requires skilled and motivated workers, who can only profit from the opportunities, they afford, if they are equipped to respond to their demands.
The public sector management must turn the recessionary trends, in shipping to opportunity, as it is blessed with leadership which inspires the team and commands the respect and does not demand. The present economic and financial TRS has eye positioned at US and EU.
We are facing lull before the storm and it may take 3/6 months to reach us, thus we may promptly act by inducing strict financial discipline, ban on foreign tours, reducing cost of repairs and maintenance, restraining unions and making counter demands to work 10 hours and asking all service providers to reduce their invoices by 10% so that there is no liquidity crunch and time has proved that conservative organisations can weather any storms.
I have seen the demise of private sector enterprises in my lifetime. The entire maritime fraternity in Pakistan must assist the only Pak Flag bearer public sector company by volunteering to offer solutions to the management, instead of being critical.
The future generation may not forgive Alan Green Span who is responsible for this debacle and his theory that " Profit for private sector and losses for socialisation and tax payers:. I have always subscribed to Keynes, Galbraith and Adam Smith who were balanced and emphasised the need of strong regulatory regime along with public and private sector participation. The right of common and poor be preserved. Gordon Brown has done it and now confused Bush is following.
I have made independent assessment based on my regular interaction with IMO and regional players who all agree to subscribe to stringent international accounting standards and professionally managed regulatory regime. While sighting the six monthly accounts of public sector ship-owning it gives satisfaction, however nobody knows the future, thus leadership must act by inducing austerity measures to keep the organisation afloat and growing.
On the first sight of this beauty I could not restrain myself appreciating the good decision of the management to enter the double hull tanker fleet before existing tankers are phased out. I did find the vessel excellently maintained and managed by professionals of Pakistan Merchant Marine, inferior to none. I was particularly impressed by the good knowledge of Chief Engineer, Master and other staff of the vessel.
My attachment to new regulation of double hull tanker and phasing out of single hull tankers goes back to 2003, when I represented as expert to draft new regulations on tankers in Maritime environmental protection committee of International Maritime Organisation based at London. I can't forget the night oil burned by most professional team to adopt the definitions proposed by EU and also incorporating Oil Pollution Act of 1990 of USA.
We, at IMO agreed, bearing in mind sad incidents of Exxon valadez, Erika, prestige and also Tasman Spirit that carriage of most polluting types of heavy grades of oil need amendments to Anex I of Marpol 73/78 Convention to which Pakistan is signatory by ratification. The EU block insisted that heavy fuel oil carriage by single hull tankers be restricted by April 2005 near EU coast.
It was also agreed that, any coastal state may deny the right of entry to single hull tankers but due to our insistence, not to impose EU, restrictions and time be allowed to developing countries to phase out, we were accommodated to some extent.
The MEPC agreed to speed up gradual phasing out of single hull tankers notwithstanding a number of limited exemptions, single hull tankers will not be allowed operation beyond 2010. We agreed to enhanced inspection of single hull tankers from the age of 15 years to detect structural weaknesses.
I recall that in freezing winter of December 2003, the final decision to amend Annex I of Marpol conventions 73/78 was taken during the 50th session of MEPC on 4th December 2003 at IMO London and approved by the Assembly. The EU bloc was the driving force to enforce double hull measures and stringent safety measures as per SOLAS to entire world fleet.
The IMO through the marine pollution convention, made double hull tankers mandatory by regulation 13 F. The US OPA'90 became mandatory to world-wide fleet. It was also agreed that all new tankers will meet IMO type 2 hull as per IBCC. While debating, the MEPC also took note of defects in double hull tankers.
I was pleased to see that our first Pakistani Tanker QUETTA complies to Solas requirement of ballast tank coatings as envisaged. Double hull tankers have been seen as the safest alternative to single hull tonnage. It was interesting to see that our M.T. Quetta complies with stringent requirements of SOLAS for tankers and is fitted with inert gas systems as inert gas system is mandatory to tankers of 20000 tons DWT and above.
The new tanker is complying with equipment duplication as per SOLAS which makes steering gears of tankers to be duplicated. I was impressed to see the vessel equipped with navigational equipments also duplicated and maintained excellently.
The tanker was also fitted with mandatory towing arrangements and also complying with MARPOL 73/78 requirements of reducing the consequences of accidents ie stability /sub-division etc. I did see the protective location of segregated ballast tanks, thus reducing the spill after accident.
The world, unlike us, is very conscious of pollution and NGOs like Green Peace, in addition to Port State Control, keep a strict eye. IMO is the international clearing house and is the keeper of a body of International treaties aimed at safety, security and pollution.
I remained involved at IMO in framing safety, security ISPS code and environmental regulations along with members having specialised skill in different faculties of Maritime and environmental sciences, thus everyday was education and flow of knowledge.
I must honestly admit that in spite of framing rules and standards for world-wide shipping, it was my first experience in life physically boarding a double hull tanker and that too of my own country flying Pakistan Flag. It could be anybody's guess how proud I felt that Pakistan has entered into advanced field of double hull tankers.
I am quite sure that this vessel is just the beginning and now falling freight/market will affect the price of double hull tankers, which may have cost 70 mill USD plus to our public sector Pak Flag. The prices will come down.
I must admit that physically inspecting the state of art ship M.T. Quetta fitted with latest technology of B&W main engines and navigations equipment was education to a person who was part of framing rules at IMO for double hull tankers. Heraclitus remarked that "learning is only a means to an end, which is understanding and understanding is the ultimate value in education."
The world-wide recession is taking its toll and I would suggest that our only ship-owning company to take advantage of falling prices by replacing outdated vessels with new tonnage.
I, congratulate the entire nation and particularly maritime fraternity of Pakistan on induction of State of Art vessel and mariners must visit to see for themselves the latest technology. It sends shivers to me if I am asked to command this beauty after quitting sea about 35 years, as technology has changed so dramatically that Anachronistic or Plebeians, will get shock of their life.
TAIL PIECE There is no denying that education is an essential preparation for life and work in advanced economy and maritime faculties too. Modern economics requires skilled and motivated workers, who can only profit from the opportunities, they afford, if they are equipped to respond to their demands.
The public sector management must turn the recessionary trends, in shipping to opportunity, as it is blessed with leadership which inspires the team and commands the respect and does not demand. The present economic and financial TRS has eye positioned at US and EU.
We are facing lull before the storm and it may take 3/6 months to reach us, thus we may promptly act by inducing strict financial discipline, ban on foreign tours, reducing cost of repairs and maintenance, restraining unions and making counter demands to work 10 hours and asking all service providers to reduce their invoices by 10% so that there is no liquidity crunch and time has proved that conservative organisations can weather any storms.
I have seen the demise of private sector enterprises in my lifetime. The entire maritime fraternity in Pakistan must assist the only Pak Flag bearer public sector company by volunteering to offer solutions to the management, instead of being critical.
The future generation may not forgive Alan Green Span who is responsible for this debacle and his theory that " Profit for private sector and losses for socialisation and tax payers:. I have always subscribed to Keynes, Galbraith and Adam Smith who were balanced and emphasised the need of strong regulatory regime along with public and private sector participation. The right of common and poor be preserved. Gordon Brown has done it and now confused Bush is following.
I have made independent assessment based on my regular interaction with IMO and regional players who all agree to subscribe to stringent international accounting standards and professionally managed regulatory regime. While sighting the six monthly accounts of public sector ship-owning it gives satisfaction, however nobody knows the future, thus leadership must act by inducing austerity measures to keep the organisation afloat and growing.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Port performance indicators: an important management tool
An individual port is one of many links in a transport chain with its own complex operational system. If this system does not function efficiently or lacks sufficient capacity, the total transport chain will be affected. A control instrument has to be established from which the port management can easily recognise where capacity problems are likely to arise in future.
It should also be a tool for the evaluation of daily operations with a view to achieving an optimal allocation of resources and higher efficiency rates. Nowadays, such a control instrument or management information system is an absolute necessity for port management's.
One part of this information system should provide accurate performance statistics which would help management translate forecast demand into ship calls and therefore berth requirements.
In every operating port there are always possibilities of improvement of various performances especially those relating to cargo handling productivities. This clearly indicates that planning based on existing levels of achievement would result in costly redundancies.
There are cases where massive new extensions have been executed while existing facilities operate at low levels of productivity. It can be argued that a port should not be contemplating adding or introducing new facilities until it has made full use of all possibilities for maximising the throughput with existing resources.
An investigation of port optimisation should always be conducted before planning new facilities. It was shocking to see a newspaper clipping in which a Pakistani port manager stated that we were operating at 50% capacity after having lost few berths, then logic denies building new capacities.
Port performance indicators are necessary tools for port management for the continuous evaluation of future capacity requirements which must be developed to monitor operational efficiency of varying combinations of port activities. The performance indicators can be classified into two main groups: the physical performance indicators and the financial indicators. Physical performance indicators include berth occupancy, which covers the period of time during which a vessel actually occupies a berth.
This indicator is very important as it influences the decision for investments in new berths. Planning on the basis of standard berth occupancy cannot be termed a very good means of accurate planning. The berth occupancy rate includes many factors which are beyond control and concern the cargo operation itself. Another factor is berth throughput, which relates to the actual tonnage loaded/discharged for each berth, expressed per current meter of quan and time.
For container terminals, the berth throughput is measured in TEU per current meter and time. Ship's turnaround time is regarded as an important performance indicator by the shipping lines to calculate the port's efficiency. The ship's turnaround time is directly related to berth occupancy and berth throughput.
The productivity of a ship refers to the volume of tons/units loaded/discharged per hour/shift/day. In the container traffic guaranteed minimum operating performance standards are used nowadays. These are normally related to the services provided to the vessels of a particular ship operator or consortia and are generally laid down as minimum container handling rates per ship working day or minimum container handling rates per hour.
On the other hand, cargo handling productivity is referred to as an indicator for all commodities separately for each operational unit. This productivity is defined as tonnage handled per man/hour or per gang/hour. This indicator makes it also possible to calculate the handling costs per commodity or commodities group and this will enable the port management to activate a flexible price policy.
Financial indicators play a vital role in port management. These are based on a cost accounting system which gives each month's information about the costs per ton/unit of commodity/commodities group discharged/loaded and will enable the management to allocate the resources in an optimal manner. Another key indicator is "contribution" which is defined as revenue less itemised costs. This is the amount of revenue which serves to cover overheads.
For an effective cost/revenue control it is necessary to calculate and compare the contribution figures per ton/unit for each commodity group regularly. Regular monitoring of performance indicators provides efficiency levels attained and therefore it is essential that ports should collect the range of statistics necessary for the effective monitoring and management of operations and for planning purposes.
Performance can be monitored in terms of output quality of service utilisation and productivity (cost per tonne). One important source of information for monitoring performance is the record of cargo handled which should provide a useful means of examining ship time in port and the progress of cargo handling. The time on berth will comprise operational time and non-operational time.
The idle time may be due to poor management of resources which could be for waiting for tugs, pilots, labour, equipment, repairs, information, documents and transport for onward movement of cargo. Practical use of performance indicators for operations and capacity planning is the performance review which can only be executed when an appropriate management information system is available.
Due to the complexity of the port and the variety of services which often require fast management decisions, it is necessary to provide the management with reports and analyses about the operational performance on a regular basis.
Ports are largely considered to be service providers and they are not expected to make huge profits. However, they must not incur operational loss due to poor management. Performance indicator is now the key tool of management of a port. All successful ports have cost accountants who monitor the cost per ton.
The success story of Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam is attributed to excellent port management and making use of all tools available to monitor performance.
Port Qasim has emerged as industrial port with maximised public and private sector participation. The port has handled 27 mill tons, an excellent record indicating optimum performance with zero waiting time. The other port can take the example of Port Qasim as a model, as the operation department is using port performance indicators.
It should also be a tool for the evaluation of daily operations with a view to achieving an optimal allocation of resources and higher efficiency rates. Nowadays, such a control instrument or management information system is an absolute necessity for port management's.
One part of this information system should provide accurate performance statistics which would help management translate forecast demand into ship calls and therefore berth requirements.
In every operating port there are always possibilities of improvement of various performances especially those relating to cargo handling productivities. This clearly indicates that planning based on existing levels of achievement would result in costly redundancies.
There are cases where massive new extensions have been executed while existing facilities operate at low levels of productivity. It can be argued that a port should not be contemplating adding or introducing new facilities until it has made full use of all possibilities for maximising the throughput with existing resources.
An investigation of port optimisation should always be conducted before planning new facilities. It was shocking to see a newspaper clipping in which a Pakistani port manager stated that we were operating at 50% capacity after having lost few berths, then logic denies building new capacities.
Port performance indicators are necessary tools for port management for the continuous evaluation of future capacity requirements which must be developed to monitor operational efficiency of varying combinations of port activities. The performance indicators can be classified into two main groups: the physical performance indicators and the financial indicators. Physical performance indicators include berth occupancy, which covers the period of time during which a vessel actually occupies a berth.
This indicator is very important as it influences the decision for investments in new berths. Planning on the basis of standard berth occupancy cannot be termed a very good means of accurate planning. The berth occupancy rate includes many factors which are beyond control and concern the cargo operation itself. Another factor is berth throughput, which relates to the actual tonnage loaded/discharged for each berth, expressed per current meter of quan and time.
For container terminals, the berth throughput is measured in TEU per current meter and time. Ship's turnaround time is regarded as an important performance indicator by the shipping lines to calculate the port's efficiency. The ship's turnaround time is directly related to berth occupancy and berth throughput.
The productivity of a ship refers to the volume of tons/units loaded/discharged per hour/shift/day. In the container traffic guaranteed minimum operating performance standards are used nowadays. These are normally related to the services provided to the vessels of a particular ship operator or consortia and are generally laid down as minimum container handling rates per ship working day or minimum container handling rates per hour.
On the other hand, cargo handling productivity is referred to as an indicator for all commodities separately for each operational unit. This productivity is defined as tonnage handled per man/hour or per gang/hour. This indicator makes it also possible to calculate the handling costs per commodity or commodities group and this will enable the port management to activate a flexible price policy.
Financial indicators play a vital role in port management. These are based on a cost accounting system which gives each month's information about the costs per ton/unit of commodity/commodities group discharged/loaded and will enable the management to allocate the resources in an optimal manner. Another key indicator is "contribution" which is defined as revenue less itemised costs. This is the amount of revenue which serves to cover overheads.
For an effective cost/revenue control it is necessary to calculate and compare the contribution figures per ton/unit for each commodity group regularly. Regular monitoring of performance indicators provides efficiency levels attained and therefore it is essential that ports should collect the range of statistics necessary for the effective monitoring and management of operations and for planning purposes.
Performance can be monitored in terms of output quality of service utilisation and productivity (cost per tonne). One important source of information for monitoring performance is the record of cargo handled which should provide a useful means of examining ship time in port and the progress of cargo handling. The time on berth will comprise operational time and non-operational time.
The idle time may be due to poor management of resources which could be for waiting for tugs, pilots, labour, equipment, repairs, information, documents and transport for onward movement of cargo. Practical use of performance indicators for operations and capacity planning is the performance review which can only be executed when an appropriate management information system is available.
Due to the complexity of the port and the variety of services which often require fast management decisions, it is necessary to provide the management with reports and analyses about the operational performance on a regular basis.
Ports are largely considered to be service providers and they are not expected to make huge profits. However, they must not incur operational loss due to poor management. Performance indicator is now the key tool of management of a port. All successful ports have cost accountants who monitor the cost per ton.
The success story of Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam is attributed to excellent port management and making use of all tools available to monitor performance.
Port Qasim has emerged as industrial port with maximised public and private sector participation. The port has handled 27 mill tons, an excellent record indicating optimum performance with zero waiting time. The other port can take the example of Port Qasim as a model, as the operation department is using port performance indicators.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
History of pilgrimage by sea
After having completed my training abroad when I returned to Pakistan, I joined Pan Islamic Steamship Company as a Cadet and thereafter commanded all the Pilgrim Ships in 1970s. I was fortunate as young person to be posted on a pilgrim ship as cadet which afforded me opportunity of performing my first Hajj in 1963.
The experience was extremely rewarding and paved the way for clean life. As a young cadet I was surprised to see most of the pilgrims weak, fragile old and travelling by sea was a very tough task, however devotion and the will to make the holy land was the only target before them. It was also shocking to see many of the pilgrims dying at sea and being buried at sea with full merchant marine honour.
Having witnessed the devotion of pilgrims which belied Marx that religion is opium of life; on the contrary religion is the only driving force which inspires you to take any adventure, irrespective of age. All pilgrims were dedicated and found preparing themselves for Hajj. The voyage time was useful in training to perform the rituals of Hajj and recitation of the Holy Quran whose sheer beauty of language is reputed to have been a frequent instrument of conversion in its own right. Humans are spiritual creatures, and spirituality matters. Humanity's sense of beauty, and decency our power to love, our creativity and seek blessings of our creator have been ingrained in our genes.
Having seen the hardships of pilgrims, I was inquisitive to trace the history of pilgrimage by land and Sea, so that we make present generation aware of the fact that how our fore fathers took pain in performing Hajj.
Visit to the sacred centre of Islam, the Centre to which every Muslim turns his face in prayer, seems too 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 hope: 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 Makkah and Madina was always difficult in the past. In the early days Muslims from all over the world travelled by foot, horses, donkeys, camels and by boats across the Red Sea.
During the long journey some dies of sickness, some were caught by desert storms, and some were looted on the way by organised 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 Hajj 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 and Africa through the Red Sea to the Port of Jeddah, some 55 miles from Makkah, thus reducing the passage time significantly over the previous route. With steamer traffic, it became commercially viable for shipping lines, throughout the world to operate for Hajj, not withstanding that this trade was relatively short seasonal one and that these ships were generally put to other use during the "Off season". Blue funnel line played a major role.
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 travelling to Makkah either by overland caravan or by sailing ships. The land route via the north-west 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 travelling from India to the Red Sea were forced to carry a Portuguese cartaz or pass.
The earliest visit by Indians to Makkah for Hajj 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's spices, pearls, precious stones, silk, Sandalwood perfumes and looked forward to the arrival of Indian ships.
In British India, Hajj continued to get attention. In 1885, the British government appointed the famous tourist agency Thomas Cook as the official travel agent for the Hajj 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 Hajj Committee was constituted, headed by the commissioner of police, Bombay, which was replaced by the Port Hajj 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 Tumer 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 1460), SS Islami (capacity 1200) MV Akbar (capacity 1600), SS Noorjehan (capacity 1756) and SS Nicobar (capacity 1170)
In 1927, Mogul Line ships carried nearly 20,000 of the 36,000 pilgrims arriving from India. In the late 1930s, over 70 percent of pilgrim ships from India were Mogul Line vessels.
Mogul Line had the monopoly of the Hajj pilgrim traffic. For about 6-7 months of the year, it carried pilgrims from India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Bangladesh and Burma to Jeddah, while the 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 Haji 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 laks 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 bought about a settlement between the two companies by which they agreed to quote not less then 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 hajj 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 Muzaffari in 1948.
After nationalisation in 1962, control of the Mogul Line passed to the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and finally, in 1987, it merged with SCI. The Saudi company Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co Ltd was the agent of the Mogul Line in Jeddah.
However, most shipping companies operating Hajj service throughout the world had second-hand ships and the conditions of majority of the pilgrim ships were pathetic and deplorable. The overcrowding of pilgrims on board 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 contain 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 with great humility, with only the goal of the voyage before their eyed, they bore all that unnecessary hardship.
Passenger ships "Empire Orwell" and British India "Sardhana" and Bombay based Mughal Lines vessels "Islami" and "Muhammadi" were chartered in 1958 for Pakistan- Jeddah run. The Sirdhana made some pilgrim voyages from both East & West Pakistan Ports to Jeddah. After that the Pan Islamic Steamship Co Ltd in 1960 and later Crescent Shipping in 1975 played a vital role in carrying the pilgrims for Karachi and Chittagong to Jeddah. Their main operation was carrying the pilgrims but they also had some cargo capacity and were used as cargo cum passenger ships during off Hajj 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 old and required heavy repairs and maintenance. It was thus commercially not viable to run them any more.
The last ship to perform Hajj service was MV Shams (1994) (under PNSC) before it was scrapped. Thus the sea borne pilgrimage runs effectively ended. All the Shipping companies in Pakistan and India have been liquidated due to supremacy of aviation sector. Some of the Pakistani passenger ships which carried pilgrims to Jeddah were as follows:
The experience was extremely rewarding and paved the way for clean life. As a young cadet I was surprised to see most of the pilgrims weak, fragile old and travelling by sea was a very tough task, however devotion and the will to make the holy land was the only target before them. It was also shocking to see many of the pilgrims dying at sea and being buried at sea with full merchant marine honour.
Having witnessed the devotion of pilgrims which belied Marx that religion is opium of life; on the contrary religion is the only driving force which inspires you to take any adventure, irrespective of age. All pilgrims were dedicated and found preparing themselves for Hajj. The voyage time was useful in training to perform the rituals of Hajj and recitation of the Holy Quran whose sheer beauty of language is reputed to have been a frequent instrument of conversion in its own right. Humans are spiritual creatures, and spirituality matters. Humanity's sense of beauty, and decency our power to love, our creativity and seek blessings of our creator have been ingrained in our genes.
Having seen the hardships of pilgrims, I was inquisitive to trace the history of pilgrimage by land and Sea, so that we make present generation aware of the fact that how our fore fathers took pain in performing Hajj.
Visit to the sacred centre of Islam, the Centre to which every Muslim turns his face in prayer, seems too 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 hope: 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 Makkah and Madina was always difficult in the past. In the early days Muslims from all over the world travelled by foot, horses, donkeys, camels and by boats across the Red Sea.
During the long journey some dies of sickness, some were caught by desert storms, and some were looted on the way by organised 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 Hajj 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 and Africa through the Red Sea to the Port of Jeddah, some 55 miles from Makkah, thus reducing the passage time significantly over the previous route. With steamer traffic, it became commercially viable for shipping lines, throughout the world to operate for Hajj, not withstanding that this trade was relatively short seasonal one and that these ships were generally put to other use during the "Off season". Blue funnel line played a major role.
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 travelling to Makkah either by overland caravan or by sailing ships. The land route via the north-west 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 travelling from India to the Red Sea were forced to carry a Portuguese cartaz or pass.
The earliest visit by Indians to Makkah for Hajj 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's spices, pearls, precious stones, silk, Sandalwood perfumes and looked forward to the arrival of Indian ships.
In British India, Hajj continued to get attention. In 1885, the British government appointed the famous tourist agency Thomas Cook as the official travel agent for the Hajj 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 Hajj Committee was constituted, headed by the commissioner of police, Bombay, which was replaced by the Port Hajj 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 Tumer 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 1460), SS Islami (capacity 1200) MV Akbar (capacity 1600), SS Noorjehan (capacity 1756) and SS Nicobar (capacity 1170)
In 1927, Mogul Line ships carried nearly 20,000 of the 36,000 pilgrims arriving from India. In the late 1930s, over 70 percent of pilgrim ships from India were Mogul Line vessels.
Mogul Line had the monopoly of the Hajj pilgrim traffic. For about 6-7 months of the year, it carried pilgrims from India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Bangladesh and Burma to Jeddah, while the 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 Haji 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 laks 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 bought about a settlement between the two companies by which they agreed to quote not less then 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 hajj 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 Muzaffari in 1948.
After nationalisation in 1962, control of the Mogul Line passed to the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and finally, in 1987, it merged with SCI. The Saudi company Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co Ltd was the agent of the Mogul Line in Jeddah.
However, most shipping companies operating Hajj service throughout the world had second-hand ships and the conditions of majority of the pilgrim ships were pathetic and deplorable. The overcrowding of pilgrims on board 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 contain 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 with great humility, with only the goal of the voyage before their eyed, they bore all that unnecessary hardship.
Passenger ships "Empire Orwell" and British India "Sardhana" and Bombay based Mughal Lines vessels "Islami" and "Muhammadi" were chartered in 1958 for Pakistan- Jeddah run. The Sirdhana made some pilgrim voyages from both East & West Pakistan Ports to Jeddah. After that the Pan Islamic Steamship Co Ltd in 1960 and later Crescent Shipping in 1975 played a vital role in carrying the pilgrims for Karachi and Chittagong to Jeddah. Their main operation was carrying the pilgrims but they also had some cargo capacity and were used as cargo cum passenger ships during off Hajj 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 old and required heavy repairs and maintenance. It was thus commercially not viable to run them any more.
The last ship to perform Hajj service was MV Shams (1994) (under PNSC) before it was scrapped. Thus the sea borne pilgrimage runs effectively ended. All the Shipping companies in Pakistan and India have been liquidated due to supremacy of aviation sector. Some of the Pakistani passenger ships which carried pilgrims to Jeddah were as follows:
======================================================
Vessel Name Owner
======================================================
Safina-e-Arab(a) Pan Islamic Steamship Com. Ltd
Safina-e-Murad Pan Islamic Steamship Com. Ltd
Safina-e-Hujjaj Pan Islamic Steamship Com. Ltd
Safina-e-Abid Pan Islamic Steamship Com. Ltd
Safina-e-Arabb (II) Pan Islamic Steamship Com. Ltd
Shams Crescent Shipping Lines Ltd/PNSC
======================================================
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Extremism in our society
A TV channel hosted a seminar at a local hotel in Karachi on 16.07.2008 on the topic of extremism with panellist Dr Ayesha Jalal, Dr Salman Shah, Ikram Saigol, Rana Sheikh, Afghan Ambassador and many others. The audience were also shown video clippings from the serial "Yeh Junoon Keysa" which will be presented in 22 serials on the menace of extremism.
It is for the first time a known Indian actress Kiran Kher will be appearing in TV drama serial of Pakistan. Dr Ayesha Jalal stressed that we are suffering from identity crisis thus resorting to extremism. Mr Ikram Saigol stressed upon the media not to project minor incidents and do not give coverage to incidents of extremism citing Indian example, where Naxalite attacks are rarely covered by the media.
Khalid Aziz, former Chief Secretary of NWFP deliberated in detail, being a resident of NWFP and his analysis made a lot of sense. It is unfortunate that such sensitive issues are left to generalists to adventure, rather seeking guidance from specialist and think tanks.
Most of the panellists feared that if the horror of extremism is not contained in FATA the spillover will be visible down south with a big bang, which is true and we have to come out of self denial and address the issue. I emphasised that it is not only our country, but even in India, the Hindu fundamentalists are supported by masses but the media. India is trying to veil these elements for the sake of soft image of their country, unlike us who project just to find a "news alert".
Every religion has abhorred extremism, be it Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism. The best example can be deduced from a priest in France in 1618, who bewitched the nuns, a film story "Possession of Loudun" is classic on the affair. The present spate of extremism is well-known to be created by "our masters" who used Taliban against Soviets and once the war was over, they were abandoned.
The monster created rebounded on its creator. It is a historical fact that after war "powers to be" may have ensured rehabilitation of war affected people and on development of economics as had been the case in Japan, Germany, Korea and Vietnam etc.
However in case of Afghan War the powers to be withdrew and instead of rehabilitation/reconstruction they were targeted as enemy. What a paradox? We all know the "think tank" in Washington guided the government to turn to the red after implementing their charter against Nazis in 1946 and once Russia and Eastern Europe collapsed, it was the turn of green. Today we see similarity in the policies of Obama and Mccain in respect of Afghanistan.
The usage of terms crusade after 9/11 and continued Muslim bashing by western media resulted into retaliation and identity crisis due to humiliation suffered even by moderates. Thus it is prudent on powers to be to contain their bashing and equal responsibility rests on us to check extremism as we all know it is unIslamic to hurt anyone. However fanatics are found in every religion.
Some misguided religious devotees feel so embattled and embittered by the questioning or rejection of their cherished beliefs that they are prepared to resort to murder, even indiscriminate mass murder, as happens wherever fanaticism mixed with resentment and ignorance to produce the hateful brew of what is done in the name of belief. They claim "Faith is what I die for, dogma is what I kill for" as the saying has it.
It is a curious fact that responsible enquiry, of the kind conducted by scientists and expected in courts of law, is careful in drawing its conclusion and in open minded about the contrary future evidence, whereas in sharp contrast matters of faith are tenaciously regarded as inviolable, irrefutable and unreversible.
Religious fanaticism has always and everywhere brought war as it can be seen by the terror of ruling evangelists superpower. Its intolerance and persecution has distorted human nature into false and artificial shapes. Some try to palliate or even excuse the crimes committed in religious belief. We must appreciate humanity's sense of beauty and decency, our power to love and fear of our Creator and at the same time we must shun evil, stupidity, greed and cruelty.
I have not seen the full serial to make my concluding remarks, but I strongly feel that powers to be must restrain themselves from Muslim bashing and avoid humiliating Islam for the sake of peace and at the same time being mentors of Taliban, they must own them by disarming and rehabilitating them to live a respected and peaceful life.
I am a firm believer that it is economic crunch, clubbed with rising unemployment and scarcity of food, which gives rise to crimes, extremism and all kinds of evils, as it is considered to be a fight for survival. Our bleak economic scenario and shrinking of economic cake may create ethnicity, extremism and may affect saner elements of our society which is finding hard to survive in this economic turmoil.
The unemployment being rugged FATA is 70% thus the only option for the youth is to become a mercenary who is said to be paid given Rs 10000 per month. Our media and masses must not join the much orchestrated chorus bashing by Western media. We must resist and impress upon them to address the core issue of rehabilitating fighters against Soviet invasion. It pained me that our Chief Executive admitted a situation like 9/11 re-emerging. We should not own others misdeeds and be proud Pakistani not apologist.
I must cite a recent example of 70s in Bangladesh, where the government ensured rehabilitation of 2.5 million Mukti Bahnis, firstly disarming them and thereafter providing housing and employment .A trust was also created and the tallest building in Dilkusha Commercial area in Dhaka is that of Mukti Bahni Trust. We may make use of the blueprints of Bangladesh and ask the powers to be who are mentors to fund the peaceful disarming, rehabilitation, formation of trust and provide employment to youth.
This menace must be addressed on top priority, so that more unemployed youths are not induced to extremism, but with economic crisis I do not see much hope from our government to comprehend the serious problem. It is advisable to take guidance from specialists like Khalid Aziz of NWFP who identified the core issues and their solutions.
It is for the first time a known Indian actress Kiran Kher will be appearing in TV drama serial of Pakistan. Dr Ayesha Jalal stressed that we are suffering from identity crisis thus resorting to extremism. Mr Ikram Saigol stressed upon the media not to project minor incidents and do not give coverage to incidents of extremism citing Indian example, where Naxalite attacks are rarely covered by the media.
Khalid Aziz, former Chief Secretary of NWFP deliberated in detail, being a resident of NWFP and his analysis made a lot of sense. It is unfortunate that such sensitive issues are left to generalists to adventure, rather seeking guidance from specialist and think tanks.
Most of the panellists feared that if the horror of extremism is not contained in FATA the spillover will be visible down south with a big bang, which is true and we have to come out of self denial and address the issue. I emphasised that it is not only our country, but even in India, the Hindu fundamentalists are supported by masses but the media. India is trying to veil these elements for the sake of soft image of their country, unlike us who project just to find a "news alert".
Every religion has abhorred extremism, be it Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism. The best example can be deduced from a priest in France in 1618, who bewitched the nuns, a film story "Possession of Loudun" is classic on the affair. The present spate of extremism is well-known to be created by "our masters" who used Taliban against Soviets and once the war was over, they were abandoned.
The monster created rebounded on its creator. It is a historical fact that after war "powers to be" may have ensured rehabilitation of war affected people and on development of economics as had been the case in Japan, Germany, Korea and Vietnam etc.
However in case of Afghan War the powers to be withdrew and instead of rehabilitation/reconstruction they were targeted as enemy. What a paradox? We all know the "think tank" in Washington guided the government to turn to the red after implementing their charter against Nazis in 1946 and once Russia and Eastern Europe collapsed, it was the turn of green. Today we see similarity in the policies of Obama and Mccain in respect of Afghanistan.
The usage of terms crusade after 9/11 and continued Muslim bashing by western media resulted into retaliation and identity crisis due to humiliation suffered even by moderates. Thus it is prudent on powers to be to contain their bashing and equal responsibility rests on us to check extremism as we all know it is unIslamic to hurt anyone. However fanatics are found in every religion.
Some misguided religious devotees feel so embattled and embittered by the questioning or rejection of their cherished beliefs that they are prepared to resort to murder, even indiscriminate mass murder, as happens wherever fanaticism mixed with resentment and ignorance to produce the hateful brew of what is done in the name of belief. They claim "Faith is what I die for, dogma is what I kill for" as the saying has it.
It is a curious fact that responsible enquiry, of the kind conducted by scientists and expected in courts of law, is careful in drawing its conclusion and in open minded about the contrary future evidence, whereas in sharp contrast matters of faith are tenaciously regarded as inviolable, irrefutable and unreversible.
Religious fanaticism has always and everywhere brought war as it can be seen by the terror of ruling evangelists superpower. Its intolerance and persecution has distorted human nature into false and artificial shapes. Some try to palliate or even excuse the crimes committed in religious belief. We must appreciate humanity's sense of beauty and decency, our power to love and fear of our Creator and at the same time we must shun evil, stupidity, greed and cruelty.
I have not seen the full serial to make my concluding remarks, but I strongly feel that powers to be must restrain themselves from Muslim bashing and avoid humiliating Islam for the sake of peace and at the same time being mentors of Taliban, they must own them by disarming and rehabilitating them to live a respected and peaceful life.
I am a firm believer that it is economic crunch, clubbed with rising unemployment and scarcity of food, which gives rise to crimes, extremism and all kinds of evils, as it is considered to be a fight for survival. Our bleak economic scenario and shrinking of economic cake may create ethnicity, extremism and may affect saner elements of our society which is finding hard to survive in this economic turmoil.
The unemployment being rugged FATA is 70% thus the only option for the youth is to become a mercenary who is said to be paid given Rs 10000 per month. Our media and masses must not join the much orchestrated chorus bashing by Western media. We must resist and impress upon them to address the core issue of rehabilitating fighters against Soviet invasion. It pained me that our Chief Executive admitted a situation like 9/11 re-emerging. We should not own others misdeeds and be proud Pakistani not apologist.
I must cite a recent example of 70s in Bangladesh, where the government ensured rehabilitation of 2.5 million Mukti Bahnis, firstly disarming them and thereafter providing housing and employment .A trust was also created and the tallest building in Dilkusha Commercial area in Dhaka is that of Mukti Bahni Trust. We may make use of the blueprints of Bangladesh and ask the powers to be who are mentors to fund the peaceful disarming, rehabilitation, formation of trust and provide employment to youth.
This menace must be addressed on top priority, so that more unemployed youths are not induced to extremism, but with economic crisis I do not see much hope from our government to comprehend the serious problem. It is advisable to take guidance from specialists like Khalid Aziz of NWFP who identified the core issues and their solutions.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The important role of business community
Being an ex merchant marine captain and having weathered many storms during my sea career and also saw ebb and low tides as well as neaps (a tide of minimum amplitude when sun and moon are working against each other). I now see a lull before an economic cyclone.
The storm which is brewing in the country due to downslide in economy and 32.5% CPI inflation of food commodity in June, falling exchange rates are serious concerns of business community as well as of masses at large. I was witness to a function of business community which was largely attended by notables of trade and industry in honour of the Head of State at local five star hotel.
While I found the business community frank and vocal and expressed their serious apprehension on economic conditions, which is absolutely true as focus on trade and industry by the Government is not in sight nor the comprehension of the gravity of the situation. Nobody seemed to be alarmed with trade deficit exceeding 20 billion USD and loss of assets of billions of dollars in stock market and flight of funds from the country, closure of industries and increasing unemployment. We are virtually a banana republic like Honduras of the past where no good governance was visible and the mercenaries were active.
The Head of state also endorsed the views of trade industry and received rousing reception. While reading "Abel Hermant" who said "if lies kill love, what does frankness do?" I could see perhaps for the first time all speakers being frank, but politicians soon learned that frankness is an expensive commodity in public life. The same is true in private life, except when it is judiciously employed and tempered by kindness, for frankness can do greater harm to fragile relationship resting on strings.
The speakers spoke with frankness to reveal what they really think, to tell the truth as one sees it, and to do so whatever the consequences. When people are not frank they are being careful or dishonest, or tactful and often all three. Many of us find that dishonesty and tact are far more useful for getting on in life than frankness. This is regrettably true as regards dishonesty but not always so as regards tact, for tact is an impression of concerns for others needs and sensitivities, and is an important instrument in helping people negotiate the unpredictable complexities of relationship, which unfortunately our political leadership lacks.
In my opinion, the only kind of person who can be frank is a saint. He says what he thinks, and even when it is uncomplimentary to his interlocutors, they sense that there is no malice. I am of the opinion that in frankness of trade and industry leaders there was no malice and a very good speech was by FPCCI member from Lahore, who did not mince words and spoke without malice.
There are very few of us who can guarantee purity of our motives in speaking bluntly for the national cause, but politeness acquires a great value, as was evident from a soft spoken leader.
I have observed that in every social transactions most of us are consciously or otherwise assessing how much frankness the circumstances demand. In my interaction with electronic media, I always quoted the axiom of Tennesse Williams that all cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness, thus continuous bashing creates sympathy which was largely evident giving the impression that the tide is changing from the ebb to flood. Thus musketeers on TV shows may draw lessons and try to contain bashing as it is libellous/slander.
It will not be out of place to draw moral of Muslim bashing by US and to my shock, I have seen recently more Hijabs and reverting to religion in Istanbul as in the 90s it was hard to find people in the blue mosque which is now jam packed. Therefore continuous bashing brings sympathy.
There are many areas where frankness is almost invariably imperative, national interest, the evolution of friendship. The point at which friends can drop their reserves and reveal themselves to each other is the point at which their relationship advances to a higher level. One frankness invites a reciprocal frankness. Unfortunately even in the case of national interest or that in the case of friendship our ruling coalition is not frank to each others on issues, thus the country is in a limbo, looking for a saviour.
The nation is virtually rudderless and is drifting to be grounded. It could be anybody's wild guess who is actually at the helm of affairs of this commandless ship of Pakistan, which in nautical terms means "out of command," sending "SOS".
It is now incumbent upon all to put their heads together voluntarily to address the economic issues on priority as rising food inflation of 32.5% and transport and communication of CPI soaring to 25% as per FBS is serious cause of concern.
We must cut down on fuel and food imports and learn to live within our means or find alternatives on war footings rather than blaming each other. The need of the hour is to take strategic decisions with honesty of purpose to salvage the country.
The origin of the connotation of 100 days, hopefully, is not from sad Napolionic era of 1815, but hopefully after cleansing of connotation by Theodore Roselt of 1933, when in only 100 days the cabinet met twice a week and 15 Laws were passed. We may also draw moral from the biography of John F. Kennedy who on taking over said that I will not even commit 1000 days for the existing problems.
The storm which is brewing in the country due to downslide in economy and 32.5% CPI inflation of food commodity in June, falling exchange rates are serious concerns of business community as well as of masses at large. I was witness to a function of business community which was largely attended by notables of trade and industry in honour of the Head of State at local five star hotel.
While I found the business community frank and vocal and expressed their serious apprehension on economic conditions, which is absolutely true as focus on trade and industry by the Government is not in sight nor the comprehension of the gravity of the situation. Nobody seemed to be alarmed with trade deficit exceeding 20 billion USD and loss of assets of billions of dollars in stock market and flight of funds from the country, closure of industries and increasing unemployment. We are virtually a banana republic like Honduras of the past where no good governance was visible and the mercenaries were active.
The Head of state also endorsed the views of trade industry and received rousing reception. While reading "Abel Hermant" who said "if lies kill love, what does frankness do?" I could see perhaps for the first time all speakers being frank, but politicians soon learned that frankness is an expensive commodity in public life. The same is true in private life, except when it is judiciously employed and tempered by kindness, for frankness can do greater harm to fragile relationship resting on strings.
The speakers spoke with frankness to reveal what they really think, to tell the truth as one sees it, and to do so whatever the consequences. When people are not frank they are being careful or dishonest, or tactful and often all three. Many of us find that dishonesty and tact are far more useful for getting on in life than frankness. This is regrettably true as regards dishonesty but not always so as regards tact, for tact is an impression of concerns for others needs and sensitivities, and is an important instrument in helping people negotiate the unpredictable complexities of relationship, which unfortunately our political leadership lacks.
In my opinion, the only kind of person who can be frank is a saint. He says what he thinks, and even when it is uncomplimentary to his interlocutors, they sense that there is no malice. I am of the opinion that in frankness of trade and industry leaders there was no malice and a very good speech was by FPCCI member from Lahore, who did not mince words and spoke without malice.
There are very few of us who can guarantee purity of our motives in speaking bluntly for the national cause, but politeness acquires a great value, as was evident from a soft spoken leader.
I have observed that in every social transactions most of us are consciously or otherwise assessing how much frankness the circumstances demand. In my interaction with electronic media, I always quoted the axiom of Tennesse Williams that all cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness, thus continuous bashing creates sympathy which was largely evident giving the impression that the tide is changing from the ebb to flood. Thus musketeers on TV shows may draw lessons and try to contain bashing as it is libellous/slander.
It will not be out of place to draw moral of Muslim bashing by US and to my shock, I have seen recently more Hijabs and reverting to religion in Istanbul as in the 90s it was hard to find people in the blue mosque which is now jam packed. Therefore continuous bashing brings sympathy.
There are many areas where frankness is almost invariably imperative, national interest, the evolution of friendship. The point at which friends can drop their reserves and reveal themselves to each other is the point at which their relationship advances to a higher level. One frankness invites a reciprocal frankness. Unfortunately even in the case of national interest or that in the case of friendship our ruling coalition is not frank to each others on issues, thus the country is in a limbo, looking for a saviour.
The nation is virtually rudderless and is drifting to be grounded. It could be anybody's wild guess who is actually at the helm of affairs of this commandless ship of Pakistan, which in nautical terms means "out of command," sending "SOS".
It is now incumbent upon all to put their heads together voluntarily to address the economic issues on priority as rising food inflation of 32.5% and transport and communication of CPI soaring to 25% as per FBS is serious cause of concern.
We must cut down on fuel and food imports and learn to live within our means or find alternatives on war footings rather than blaming each other. The need of the hour is to take strategic decisions with honesty of purpose to salvage the country.
The origin of the connotation of 100 days, hopefully, is not from sad Napolionic era of 1815, but hopefully after cleansing of connotation by Theodore Roselt of 1933, when in only 100 days the cabinet met twice a week and 15 Laws were passed. We may also draw moral from the biography of John F. Kennedy who on taking over said that I will not even commit 1000 days for the existing problems.
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