Pakistan to launch sea route passenger ship service to at least four countries

*ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is considering to open up sea route passenger shipservices for four sea routes including Jeddah, Basra, Oman and Dubai, saidFederal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi.*

Speaking to local media, the federal minister said that he has sought thepermission from the Ministry of Defence to provide the No ObjectionCertificate (NOC) for four routes – Jeddah to cater the Hajj and Umrahpilgrims especially in the Hajj season, Basra to cater the *Zaireens,* Omanand Dubai.

“I have asked for these four routes in the first stage, and they wouldfollow the same process similar to what we see at airports. At airports wego through ASF and customs whereas, here we would have PSF (Port SecurityForce), we would follow all the modalities,” he said.

Zaidi said that they would also facilitate private investors, and theservice would not only be limited to PNSC ships. “We are opening thissector, the more private investors would come in it, the more jobs it wouldgenerate, it would also boost the transportation of our goods as well,” hesaid.