The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) has successfully navigated and berthed a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier under severe monsoon conditions, averting a looming national energy shortfall.
The high-risk emergency operation involved guiding the S K Resolute through a 49-kilometre-long navigational channel amid extreme weather on Saturday. The crisis arose after escalating regional tensions forced two scheduled QatarEnergy vessels to cancel their deliveries under Force Majeure. Facing a severe fuel deficit during peak summer demand, Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) managed to secure an emergency spot cargo already in transit, PQA Public Relations Officer Asad Altaf Hussain Warsi said in a statement.
Operating at the absolute limits of the port’s navigational capacity, the PQA operations team executed a highly complex maneuver to safely dock the vessel. The S K Resolute arrived carrying 171,951 cubic metres of LNG, making it the largest single LNG cargo ever handled at the PGPCL terminal. With a beam width of 47.8 metres, it also stands as the widest LNG carrier ever managed at Port Qasim during the monsoon season. The PQA said this landmark maritime achievement has secured an uninterrupted supply of critical gas to the national transmission system. The successful operation has stabilised the country’s power grid, ensuring continued electricity supply to millions of households and industrial units across Pakistan.
Bloomberg on July 9 reported that Pakistan was urgently seeking to secure an LNG cargo after renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz disrupted supplies from Qatar, forcing the country back into the costly spot market. State-owned Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) had issued a tender to purchase an LNG cargo for delivery on July 15-16, with bids due on Friday, according to a notice published on the company’s website.
The government had approved the tender on Wednesday after a Qatari LNG shipment scheduled for this month was canceled, traders familiar with the matter had told Bloomberg, requesting anonymity because the information is private.