By an OGJ Correspondent
KARACHI, Sept. 19 -- Pakistan National Shipping Corp. (PNSC) has purchased a 97,789 dwt tanker valued at $5.5 million to facilitate completion of contacts to transport 2.75 million tonnes/year of crude oil for Pak-Arab Refinery Co. Ltd., 4.1 million tonnes/year for National Refinery Ltd., and 0.5 million tonnes/year for Pakistan Refinery Ltd. (PRL).
Currently, PNSC is transporting crude oil for these companies through a chartered vessel.
PNSC purchased the tanker through its own financial resources and expects that the anticipated savings from its use will enable it to purchase a second vessel later.
The single-hull tanker, which PNSC has renamed M.T. Shalamar, was built in Japan in 1981 and was previously owned and operated by Crystal King Shipping Ltd. It has a capacity of 78,000 tonnes of liquid cargo.
Tasman Spirit
Meanwhile efforts to remove oil from a leaking, PNSC-charted Greek vessel wrecked off Pakistan's east coast suffered another setback when a ship involved in the lightering operation broke down as rough seas hampered transfer efforts, an official said. As of late August, the remaining 18,000 tonnes of oil in the MV Tasman Spirit had not been removed. The vessel was delivering 67, 000 tonnes of oil for PRL when it ran aground outside Karachi port July 27 and foundered (OGJ Online, Aug. 25, 2003).