Pakistan aims to boost Gwadar port with new shipping lines, ferry

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani government said last week that it plans to expand the port of Gwadar in the country’s southwest, aiming to revive the Chinese-run facility by opening new shipping lines and a ferry service.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs announced that new shipping lines from Gwadar will open to facilitate trade between the Middle East and Central Asia. A ferry service will also be launched linking Gwadar to Muscat in Oman and other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the ministry said in a Tuesday statement.

Outside experts, however, and even some government officials, are skeptical and say the plans for new shipping lines and ferry are vague.

According to official sources, the Pakistani government will bear the cost of the new services. However, the expansion plan is still in its early stages, and details, such as estimated costs and financial benefits, have yet to be determined.

“Currently, Gwadar port receives one commercial ship per month on average, and the activity at the port remains minimal,” a government official who has dealt with ports in Pakistan told Nikkei on condition of anonymity. “The [proposed] shipping lines will not achieve much in the absence of economic activity in Gwadar.”

There is currently no international ferry service from Pakistan. During the British colonial period, a ferry operated between Basra in Iraq and Bombay (present-day Mumbai), with a stop at Gwadar.

The modern port of Gwadar was funded and built by China in the early 2000s at a cost of $250 million, and the city of Gwadar is the centerpiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The $50 billion Pakistani portion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative was officially opened in 2015 by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan’s prime minister at the time, Nawaz Sharif, brother of the current premier, Shehbaz Sharif.

Critics are unimpressed with the plans announced so far. Muhammad Shoaib, a postdoctoral fellow at George Mason University in the U.S., said the proposed ferry service is impractical.

“It is not realistic to expect someone to take a flight from Islamabad to Karachi, and then another flight from Karachi to Gwadar, just to take a boat ride for fun,” Shoaib told Nikkei, adding that operating a ferry service requires basic infrastructure, which is missing in Gwadar. “Travelers need proper hotels, restaurants and other facilities,” he said.

At present, there is only one flight a week from Gwadar to Karachi, although Gwadar Airport, the country’s largest in terms of land area, was built with Chinese funds and opened in January.

Tania Baloch, a political analyst based in Canada, shares Shoaib’s skepticism. “Before making such public commitments, government officials should assess local conditions, including infrastructure, safety and viability,” she told Nikkei. “After long periods of inactivity, lofty promises are presented to the public as a distraction” from the government’s day-to-day difficulties

Experts say the proposed ferry service and shipping lines are meant to revive the fortunes of the Gwadar port, which has failed to succeed commercially as envisioned under the CPEC. “The only notable economic activity taking place at Gwadar port is fertilizer shipments and the export of donkey meat to China,” said Baloch, who previously published a Balochistan-focused magazine.

Nasir Sohrabi, president of the Rural Community Development Council of Gwadar, has a similar view. “It’s uncertain how much business [the ferry service and shipping lines] would bring to Gwadar port. Currently, there is very little activity at the port and business has almost stalled.”

There is, however, some local shipping demand.

“A large segment of the population from Gwadar and adjoining areas is employed in Gulf countries, and many also have family ties on both sides. A significant volume of goods is sent to Gwadar from the Gulf, but it currently comes via cargo to Karachi, and then by road to Gwadar,” Sohrabi said.

Local residents also told Nikkei that cargo service from the port would be more useful than a ferry, as shipping lines operated from Gulf countries, especially Dubai, to Gwadar until the late 1990s.

“The people of Gwadar have long demanded a direct cargo service from Gwadar, which will reduce logistic costs and benefit local markets and traders,” Sohrabi said.

The article appeared in asia.nikkei