Native name |
Urdu: کراچی شپ یارڈ اینڈ انجینئرنگ ورکس |
---|---|
State owned enterprise | |
Industry | Shipbuilding, Defence |
Founded | 1957 |
Headquarters | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
Area served |
Asia |
Key people |
Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah (Managing Director ) |
Products | Warships, Merchant vessels, Barges, Tugboats, Dredgers, Floating Drydocks |
Owner | Ministry of Defence Production |
Website | www.karachishipyard.com.pk |
The Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited (KS&EW), is a major defence contractor and military corporation situated in West Wharf in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the oldest and the only shipyard in Pakistan, catering for shipbuilding, ship repair and general heavy engineering. It has built numerous cargo ships, oil tankers, tugboats and support vessels, landing crafts, naval vessels and submarines for Pakistani Navy.
The current Managing Director KS&EW is Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah.
It was established in mid fifties as a project of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) and was later incorporated as a public limited company in 1957 which is managed by a Board of Directors and a Managing Director. The shipyard is spread across 71 acres and located at west wharf in Karachi. It is equipped with a large shipbuilding hall, three block fabrication areas, three shipbuilding berths, two dry docks, a machine shop, a grit blasting and painting facility, a 7881 tons capacity ship lift and transfer system, 13 parking stations.
A contract was signed on 22 January 2013 between the Ministry of Defence Production, Pakistan and STM , Turkey to construct a 17000 ton fleet tanker for the Pakistani Navy. The Kit of Material was provided by STM and the construction, outfitting took place at KS&EW. The construction of the vessel started on 27 November 2013 and it was launched on 19 August 2016. This is the largest ship built in Pakistan till date.
In the 1990s KS&EW constructed two Agosta 90B submarines for the Pakistani Navy. These were built under a transfer of technology from DCNS, France. The technology was mostly related to construction of the pressure hull and out-fitting of the submarine. The third submarine, PNS Hamza, was constructed with MESMA AIP unit, while the first two (PNS Khalid and PNS Saad) will be retro-fitted during their next overhauls with a "plug" containing a MESMA AIP unit. The submarine's hull will be cut and the plug inserted. The second MESMA unit was shipped in June 2011.
The next submarine project will see KS&EW jointly involved with Chinese company CSOC (China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd.) in the design and construction of six submarines equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP). These will be designed to Pakistani specifications and four will be built at a CSOC shipyard in China, while two will be constructed by KS&EW. It is believed that little upgrading of facilities is required because much of the current infrastructure meets the requirements. The preliminary negotiations were reported to be completed in March 2011. It was earlier believed that the project would involve China's Type-041 Yuan class submarine, which had been mentioned by Admiral Noman Bashir, Chief of Naval Staff, several times since 2009.