Fishermen’s protest hurting ships berthing at Karachi Port

The biggest port of the country has been shut for the last several hours affecting the berthing of many ships owing to a deadlock in talks between fishermen and Maritime Ministry, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

According to details, no ship has been anchored at Karachi Port since 2pm yesterday. PM Special Advisor on Maritime Mehmood Maulvi said that eight ships were affected by the closure of the channel. 

The PM advisor said that talks between the government and fishermen would be held again later today (Wednesday). He further said that governments of Sindh and Balochistan were also being contacted in this regard. 

Talks between reps of fishermen and the authorities were held on Tuesday at the head office of Karachi Port Trust but the government failed to woo the protesters. 

The strike affected business at one of the largest and busiest deep-water seaports of South Asia.

The fishermen have been on protest against the authorities for limiting fishing. The protesters have closed the port.

Reportedly, fishermen anchored their boats to block the shipping channel of the port, leaving scores of cargo ships anchored outside the port.

In August last year, the fishermen went on strike as they were barred from going into the open sea for fishing.

They said they were unable to do fishing by placing limits making it difficult for them to make both ends meet.

Reporter Daniyal Syed