KARACHI: Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Acting Chief Executive Wasif Mehmood has decided to hire a Canadian lawyer to get the detained ship in Canada released and a senior officer of the company will fly to Islamabad to discuss the issue with the Ministry of Industries, a PSM official said.
Mehmood, who had accompanied President Asif Ali Zardari on a visit to Russia, convened a meeting on Friday to discuss the seizure of Motor Vessel Thorasace by Canadian authorities on a complaint by an Indian company.Officials of the law department were busy preparing relevant papers for the foreign lawyer, the official said, adding they had stepped up efforts to get the ship released soon, which was carrying 55,000 tons of coal worth Rs1 billion.
Hamid Pervez, who was looking after PSM matters in the absence of acting chief executive, is going to Islamabad on Saturday to update government authorities on the issue. Pervez is the principal executive of Administration and Personnel Department.
PSM officials, however, say that the mill has enough stock of coal to meet its requirement for the next two months.
The Indian company, Femento, had lodged a complaint against PSM in the court of British Columbia, Canada, seeking clearance of its dues worth around $10 million. PSM in 2004 signed a business deal with Femento for the supply of coal, but the deal was scrapped later on the grounds of low-quality commodity.
PSM says that it reserves the right to file an appeal in the Canadian court because the Canadian government did not issue any notice before seizing the vessel. The ship was expected to reach Port Qasim on June 13.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2011.
