KARACHI (March 08 2004): Pakistan Refinery Ltd said it had collected the entire marine cargo loss, it suffered due to the oil spillage, from its insurers amounting to Rs 814 million.
The company has received the entire amount insured following the grounding of 'Tasman Spirit', the company said in its half-yearly report.
The tanker after running aground at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) channel on July 27, 2003, flushed over 35,000 tonnes crude oil of Iranian origin in the seas out of the total consignment of 67,500 tonnes of oil, causing hardship to the residents and environmental problems.
The mishap provided the opportunity for the Refinery to tighten its shipping standards and, accordingly, it has now contracted with international shipping experts to pre-qualify, as far as practicable, the seaworthiness of vessels, the report said.
The owners of the vessel, Assamina Maritime Co, has sold the wreckage of the vessel for Rs 104 million, in two instalments, to local ship breakers. The vessel is a crude oil tanker, built at Onomichi Dockyard Co Ltd, Japan, in 1979, and had been registered in Valletta, Malta.
Pakistan Refinery Ltd in the six months ended December 31, 2003 earned a net profit of Rs 358.7 million, down from Rs 416.7 million.
The comparison, if restricted to the last quarter, showed a market improvement to Rs 308.4 million from Rs 271.7 million of the same period a year earlier.
During the period throughput was down to 0.99 million tonnes from 1.44 million tonnes during the corresponding period of last year.
The increasing stockpiling of fuel oil due to a drop in its demand, with gas being promoted nation-wide as a substitute fuel, was the chief reason for the reduction in throughput.
