Gwadar Port

Gwadar is Pakistan's Second Deep Sea Port

Gwadar Port is located at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, approximately 460km  west of Karachi, 75 km east of Pakistan's border with Iran and 380 km northeast of the nearest point in Oman across the Arabian Sea and Gwadar Port is a warm water, deep sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan. The port features prominently in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, and is considered to be a crucial link between the ambitious one belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Road projects.

Although construction of Gwadar Port did not commence until 2002, Pakistan identified 

Gwadar as a port site as far back as 1954 when Gwadar was still under Omani rule. Pakistan's interest in Gwadar started when, in 1954, it engaged the United States Geological Survey to undertake a survey of its coastline. Gwadar Port was developed by the Government of Pakistan at a cost of $248 million. The construction contract was granted to a Chinese firm and construction began on 22 March 2002 and Phase I of the Port was completed in December 2006 and inaugurated by the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf on 20 March 2007. Location of Gwadar port is very beautiful and attractive for tourists and Gwadar's potential to be a deep water sea port. The port is situated on a rocky outcropping in the Arabian Sea that forms part of a natural hammerhead shaped peninsula protruding out from the Pakistani coastline. The peninsula, known as the Gwadar Promentory, consists of rocky outcropping reaching an altitude of 560 feet with a width of 2.5 miles that is connected to the Pakistani shore by a narrow and sandy 12 kilometre long isthmus. The isthmus separates the shallow Padi Zirr Bay to the west, from the deep water Demi Zirr Harbour in the east.

A small wharf at Gwadar was accomplished in 1992, and formal proposals for a deep sea port at Gwadar were unveiled a year later in 1993. Construction on Phase 1 of the project began in 2002 after the agreement for its construction was issued and signed during the state visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in 2001. After completion of Phase 1 in 2007, the first commercial cargo vessel to dock at the port was the, Pos glory, with 70,000 metric tonnes of Wheat on 15 March 2008. Gwadar port will become gateway port for Pakistan and the region and a world class maritime hub. Gwadar Port is to Complement Karachi Port and Port Qasim in order to stimulate economic growth of Pakistan and in particular Balochistan utilizing the available resources of the country and also providing an outlet for land locked Central Asian Countries western China and Afghanistan through transit trade and offering transshipment facilities.