Karachi, March 13 Pakistani naval ships 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 on Friday.
The development comes as Pakistan, which heavily relies on Gulf countries for its energy and oil needs, faces a fuel crisis. Attacks on oil tankers during the ongoing war between Iran and a joint US-Israel front have disrupted the traffic of cargo and merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Two vessels carrying between 100 million and 120 million litres of oil arrived at the Karachi port this morning, officials of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) said.
The Pakistan Navy has named these escort operations as Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime, Junaid Anwar, said that the involvement of Pakistani naval ships as escorts for merchant ships should not be misinterpreted 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 at safeguarding Pakistan's maritime trade and energy lifelines as the regional security environment becomes increasingly volatile.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government, which has already raised petrol prices by PKR 55 since the conflict in the Gulf region began on February 28, is expected to announce another increase later on Friday as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Commission issues new listings every 15 days.