Pakistan's largest port, the Pakistan Deep Water Container Port (PDWCP), has begun test operations. The first container ship entered its port where it was loaded with 1,000, twenty-foot equivalent, units of export cargo.
However, it was a smaller vessel than the port was designed for. The vessel had a draft of 12 metres and an overall length of 262 metres, which is small compared to the draft of 18 metres and operational draft of 16 metres the port was engineered for. The smaller container ship was a deliberate choice for testing.
The port has the capacity to handle 3.1m TEUs a year and a storage yard that can play home to around 550,000 TEUs a year, sources said.
