Gwadar Port will serve big ships for 50 years: CHEC

BEIJING: Shi Yingtao, Vice President China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has said that Gwadar International Port will serve big ships for the next 50 years and will play a vital role in the regional trade and development.

Talking to Jang & The News at CHEC HQs in Beijing, the Vice President of CHEC which is doing major projects like Gwadar Port and Port Qasim in Pakistan stated that the Gwadar Port is being developed through Dredging and the 4,7 kms long channel has been dredged to 14 meter depth.

Gwadar Port is located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, approximately 460 km west of Karachi.

Mr Yingtao stated that a 18.9 kms Eastbay Expressway will be built to help flow of goods from and to Gwadar Port which will also include a 4.3 kms bridge alongside the sea and it will be an engineering marvel. He told Jang and The News that the port is capable to load and unload biggest possible ships simultaneously.

The port berths length is over 700 meters and on requirement the berth length can be increased by two to three times.

The port is being built by CHEC in record time and Government of Pakistan has given the management control of Gwadar Port to China Overseas Ports Holding company.

Mr Yingtao said that terrorists attacked CHEC workers during the construction of Gwadar Port. He said that he wants to thank the local baloch people and Baloch doctors through Jang and The News for the timely and sincere help given to save the lives of CHEC workers attacked by the terrorists.

Mr Yingtao said that CHEC is working on 32 projects and it also includes the Port Qasim project.

In another session with Jang and The News in Beijing, the Chief Economist of Chinese National Development Commission Mr Zhang Anyuan stated that Gwadar Port will be developed as a leading regional port despite the worst intentions of enemies to block its development. Mr Zhang said that an airport will be built at Gwadar and also a refinery will be built at Gwadar. A fee zone and Export Processing Zone is also part of the Gwadar Port project.

Mr Zhang said that different vested interest groups were working against Chinese Pakistan Economic Corridor but it will be successfully built and economies of China and Pakistan will benefit from it.