GMS: Gadani One Signature Away from Welcoming Tankers

Gadani shipbreaking yards are one signature away from reopening to tankers, according to a report from GMS, a cash buyer of ships for recycling.

As understood, the one remaining signature required is from the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri, who remains reluctant to sanction any reopening.

End buyers have been petitioning the Chief Minister and the government to reopen Gadani to tankers, GMS said, adding that high ranking Pakistan Ship Breakers Association members recently asked the Minister to push the matter, however, without any success.

“This fiasco has played itself out against the backdrop of a significant depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee, which has knocked more than USD 20/LDT off the local offerings and this has further dampened end buyer enthusiasm and any aggression to buy at decent rates (for now),” GMS said in its report.

The Chief Minister banned the demolition of tankers and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers at Pakistan’s Gadani shipbreaking yards in February 2017, following two incidents which caused dozens of fatalities.

The incidents, caused by the absence of safety measures, included an explosion on November 1, which killed at least 28 workers, and a fire on January 9, which took the lives of another 5 workers.