Pakistan Maritime Sector and Exclusive Economic Zone

Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS82), the coastal states have sovereign rights over the natural resources, whether living or
non-living, of the water, the seabed and its subsoil, and over other activities for the
economic exploitation and exploration of the zone. Jurisdiction is also provided over
establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures and over the
protection and preservation of the marine environment. The Exclusive Economic Zone
extends to a maximum breadth of 200 Nautical Miles from the baseline. Rights over areas
of sea, and access to technology have made it easier even for the developing nations like
Pakistan to protect their interests and build up their economies, utilizing the resources
that EEZ possesses.
Pakistan, a coastal state astride the North Arabian Sea, has a coastline extending almost
1000 km from the Indian border in the Sir Creek to the Iranian border. It has a large
maritime zone of about 290,000 sq km which includes the recently acquired continental
shelf.
Within its overall maritime assets, Pakistan has vast area under its EEZ, larger than
Punjab and KPK put together, which thus may rightly be termed as the fifth province.
The coastal areas including the
EEZ have distinctive oceanic
phenomena and features that The coastal areas including the EEZ
should theoretically be capable of have distinctive oceanic phenomena
producing rich fisheries, minerals, and features that should theoretically
and oil and gas resources. The be capable of producing rich fisheries,
country certainly should have minerals, and oil and gas resources.
focused on exploitation of its sea
resources, both living and nonliving, yet it could not happen until now. The sector has indeed gained even more
significance in the wake of infrastructure being developed for CPEC.
It may also be emphasized in the same context that a huge proportion of world population
ranging from 35% to 65%, lives in the coastal areas or within a hundred miles of
coastlines. In contrast to this, Pakistans population living in coastal areas is just around
8%, and if Karachi is excluded, there is not any noticeable population living in the coastal
regions of Pakistan. To attract the population to these areas infrastructure development,
as well as provisions of facilities are required for a respectable and sustainable living.

Prepared by an IPS Task Force, this brief draws substantially, albeit not solely, from the deliberations of
two events organized by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad.

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Among the several reasons, for this state of affairs, a major one is the lack of awareness
and inadequacy of scientific knowledge about the EEZ, as like overall maritime sector.
Consequently, the overall maritime dominion of policy-making and opinion making in
the country also remains under-discussed and the knowledge of the subject remains
limited.
In this backdrop the recently highlighted reports in the national policy-discourse that
Pakistan is reviewing and developing its maritime doctrine, considering developments,
of high significance, taking place in the Indian Ocean Region, should be seen as a
welcome step and warrant an input from all stakeholders to arrive at the best conclusions.
The following recommendations are being presented for consideration in the same spirit:

Preparing a comprehensive Ocean Economic Roadmap for the country to

benefit from immense maritime potential and develop the entire coast on the
principle of Integrated Coastal Zone Management is an immediate need. As
part of this road map, a comprehensive program is required to create maritime
awareness and culture in the populace, particularly among the policymakers and
legislators, opinion leaders, and youth. Introduction of maritime studies as a
discipline at elementary and higher secondary levels would help in providing a
solid, long-term and sustainable foundation in this regard.
Policy and its Implementation: A review of the National Maritime Policy and
consequently, respective policies of individual sectors conforming to the current
trends and technologies that
are available is also an
urgent need. Pakistans last A review of the National Maritime
maritime
policy
was Policy and consequently, respective
of
individual
sectors
introduced in 2002. A draft policies
maritime policy has been conforming to the current trends and
prepared some five years technologies that are available is also
back by Ministry of Defense.
an urgent need.
Yet it is still pending
approval. Consequently, it is
difficult for the individual sectors to devise their lines of actions, accordingly.
Once there is an updated policy and a roadmap is in place, a comprehensive and
active strategy would be needed, in light of that policy, for the protection and
projection of Pakistans maritime interests, development of coastal zones, ports
and harbors, protection and conservation of marine environment and ecosystem.
Importantly, it is necessary for the Federation and the Federating Units to be on
the same page, exhibiting consensus on this subject of high national importance.
In terms of policy and implementation, there should be a regular consultation
with the Naval leadership
regarding various issues in
It is necessary for the Federation
the maritime domain.
The
current
scientific and the Federating Units to be on the
knowledge about Pakistans same page, exhibiting consensus on
coastal and maritime zone is this subject of high national
inadequate. Investment in importance.
survey, data collection and
research in the maritime
sector should be encouraged. Public-private partnership is much needed for not
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only stimulating new ideas at policy level but also for increasing capacity
building, generating career opportunities and entrepreneurship, and inviting
investment from local and international companies. Efforts should be made to
impart modern training and skills to the people involved in all the sectors related
to maritime world. This would improve their livelihoods and contribute
effectively in national economy. A few practical steps may include: enhance
marine and maritime careers and their attractiveness by bridging the gap between
education, science and industry, ensuring relevant training, and promoting a
safety culture, etc. For this purpose, collaboration with the foreign universities,
prominent in marine and maritime studies may be a good option. On the
sidelines, a young marine investors club may be of great help.
Highlighting the renewable energy sources like wind and tidal to attract investors
can be a catalyst to augment business and also tourism. In relation to this, correct
understanding needs to be developed with regard to the terminologies of Marine
and Maritime. Private and public sector entrepreneurs are unable to distinguish
between the two terms which proves to be a hindrance in attracting the
investment. These terms, though closely linked, are not interchangeable as
'marine' directly relates to the sea i.e. anything pertaining to the sea, while
'maritime' relates to things and actions associated with the sea and thus covers
ports, shipping, ship building, ship repairing, insurance, banking, finance, and
consulting services.
It also needs stress that all
activities on the sea are
directly or indirectly related Efficiency of sea-based activities are
to land based infrastructure. dependent on the efficiency of land
Efficiency of sea-based based rail and road links and related
activities are dependent on services.
the efficiency of land based
rail and road links and
related services. Therefore, enhanced cooperation between provincial and
federal government agencies and departments is mandatory.
Cooperation and coordination should also be linked to the private sector and
concerned stakeholders to develop and implement an approach that is capable of
managing the coastal zone in the most effective ways. There is need to introduce
suitable legislation supported by conducive environment to attract private
investment in the coastal zones as well as in maritime domain.
Approximately 90% of international trade is carried by international shipping
industry which makes shipping a major part of the maritime sector. It is however
a matter of concern that Karachi port, which was once one of the most developed
and state-of-the-art ports in the Indian Ocean, has deteriorated so much that now
it is considered among the least significant. The reason is the discouraging policy
followed by the Shipping Act due to which no ship has registered ever since this
act was imposed. Simultaneous change in policy followed by the favorable
amendment in Shipping Act will attract the ship owners to the Pakistans ports.
Ancillary services sector consisting of banking, insurance, brokering, chartering,
surveying, providing consultancy and other related services also need due
consideration. This services sector has the capacity to expand so much in volume
that it can be equivalent or even bigger than shipping business at the ports. It
also can provide a good number of jobs in the diverse sectors. Provision of
guidelines for the development and progress of these ancillary services is another
area where attention is required.
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Determined efforts are required in the offshore exploration which entails

acquisition of technology as well as training. Maritime is an expensive field but
the dividends are also correspondently high. There must be a willingness to
invest in maritime sector.
The proposed roadmap, as well as the policy, should highlight the competitive
edge of Pakistans coastal areas over other regional coastal areas of Iran, India
and Gulf by developing a marine research program and making data available to
the investors on open source/interactive platforms. Along with this, funds should
be made available to support marine and maritime projects. For this purpose,
banks and other investment institutions can be encouraged to take initiatives.
Maritime sector can only flourish if policy encourages a high level of regional
and international cooperation based on mutual understanding which is ensured
by bilateral and multilateral agreements. Optimum advantage from such
collaborations can be secured by getting memberships of credible forums,
institutes and organizations related to the maritime sector. Enhanced
coordination is therefore required with other countries within the ambit of
UNCLOS-82 as well as other international conventions, treaties and agreements.
At the same time, Pakistan must ensure a clean maritime environment, and also
enhance its maritime safety and security from national and international threats.
A proper plan and effective policy to safeguard living and nonliving oceanic
resources from the natural and man-made disasters is thus essential. Pakistan on
its part would also be expected to ensure safety and maintain environmental
standards according to the international regulations.

To conclude it needs to be stressed

again that understanding the
significance of the maritime sector There is a need to form an overarching
and prioritizing the areas while body to develop and implement the
taking all stakeholders on board maritime strategy by monitoring /
requires an immediate attention coordinating the activities of different
from all concerned. There is a departments.
need to form an overarching body
(such as, for instance, National
Maritime Authority) to develop and implement the maritime strategy by monitoring /
coordinating the activities of different departments. A body named as National Maritime
Coordination Committee exists, which is chaired by the secretary defense to look after
maritime affairs but it has been unable to coordinate the matters effectively. Instead of
having a ministry dealing only with Ports and Shipping a Ministry of Maritime Affairs
may be considered and its portfolio expanded to include the entire maritime sector.

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