Pakistan Naval ships on Friday safely escorted two of its merchant vessels carrying millions of litres of oil from Fujirah in the UAE to the Karachi Port amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, officials said.
The development comes as Pakistan, heavily reliant for its energy and oil needs from the Gulf countries, faces a fuel crisis. The attacks on oil tankers in the ongoing war between Iran and the joint US-Israel front has disrupted traffic of cargo and merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Two vessels carrying 100 million to 120 million litres of oil reached Karachi port this morning, the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) officials said.
The Pakistan Navy code named these escort operations as Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime Junaid Anwar said the involvement of Pakistan Naval ships as escorts for merchant ships should not be misunderstood or interpreted as Pakistani naval ships accompanying ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said that the naval escort operations currently being conducted by the Pakistan Navy are limited to protecting the country’s merchant vessels operating along key maritime routes affected by the ongoing Iran-US-Israel war.
Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr is aimed to safeguard Pakistan’s maritime trade and energy lifelines as the regional security environment becomes increasingly volatile.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government that has already raised petrol prices by PKR 55 since the conflict in the Gulf region started on February 28 is expected to announce another hike later Friday as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Commission issues new listings every 15 days.
