The arrival of the Bangladesh-flagged M/V Jahan Brothers II at Gwadar Port, carrying 53,064 tonnes of steel billets from Singapore for onward shipment to Al Hamriyah Port in the UAE, has greater commercial significance than the routine official celebration accompanying every vessel call.
The cargo is neither a Pakistani import nor an export. Gwadar is earning its place in the transaction by providing berthing, unloading, temporary storage and reloading services. That is the business of transhipment, and one of the routes through which an underutilised port can begin entering international shipping networks.
The operation follows Gwadar’s first commercial bunkering exercise from July 9 to 11, when the LNG carrier Enugu was supplied with 2,500 tonnes of very low sulphur fuel oil. This matters because bunkering, ship supplies, storage and cargo handling can together produce a broader stream of maritime revenue than vessel berthing alone.
The Gwadar Port Authority’s online register lists 10 vessels berthed between March 29 and July 1 and 194,304 tonnes of cargo handled. The traffic includes machinery, fertiliser, steel and general transhipment cargo.
It goes without saying that tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have encouraged shipowners and cargo operators to examine alternative facilities outside the chokepoint. Islamabad has reinforced the attraction by cutting container-vessel berthing fees by 25 per cent, international transhipment charges by 40 per cent and transit-container charges by up to 31 per cent. All said and done, port economics are unforgiving. Shipping lines choose terminals on the basis of total voyage cost, turnaround time, berth availability, insurance, customs efficiency, and the likelihood of securing return cargo. Gwadar possesses three multipurpose berths, a 602-metre quay, a maximum alongside depth of 14.5 metres and substantial storage space. The harder task is building the commercial ecosystem around the concrete.
The scale of the gap is visible in the revenue record. The government informed the National Assembly that Gwadar generated Rs 573.92 million from foreign shipping over 2021-25. For the sake of comparison, Gwadar’s traffic was equivalent to only about 0.53 per cent of Port Qasim, which generated Rs 107.69 billion.
It would help the authorities establish transparency through monthly data on cargo volumes and revenue. Without such disclosure, it will remain impossible to know whether lower charges are buying market share or merely discounting occasional traffic diverted by war.
Local conditions will also influence the port’s competitiveness. Electricity, water, skilled labour, urban transport and security are operating inputs, not social issues sitting outside the balance sheet. A terminal surrounded by an underserved city will struggle to acquire the local legitimacy and workforce required by a durable logistics hub. *