Muhammadi Steamship Company Limited was one of the oldest locally owned shipping companies in Pakistan until it was nationalised in the early 1970s.

History

The company was incorporated on 12 May 1947 .[1] In 1949, it became the first Pakistani shipping line to be publicly listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange.[2]

Muhammadi House on McLeod Road (now I. I. Chundrigar Road) was the headquarters of the company.[3]

Muhammad Ali Habib and Kasim Dada were major share holders of the company till 1959–1960. However, after their departure from the scene, company went into deep financial crisis. Fakhruddin Valika of the Valika family later on acquired the major stake in the company.[4] Under the Valika family's leadership, the company built Al-Abbas, which was the first major ship to be built in Karachi Shipyard.[5] The company was nationalized by the Government of Pakistan under then President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was later merged with other Pakistani nationalized shipping companies to create the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation.

Ships

ShipBuiltTonnageBuilderIn ServiceFateNotes
Al Murtaza Ali19427235 GRTWest Coast Shipbuilders, Vancouver as 'Fort Norman'1948 - 1954Sold in 1954 to United Oriental Steamship Company, Karachi and renamed ANWARBAKSH
Husaini later Al Husaini19437157 GRTNorth Vancouver Ship Repairers Ltd., North Vancouver as 'Fort Clatsop'1948 - 1968Broken up at Karachi in November 1968Renamed in 1949
Ahmadi later Al Ahmadi19205186 GRTTodd Dry Dock & Construction Company, Tacoma as 'Pallas'1948 - 1954Broken up at Karachi in 1954Renamed in 1949
Al Hasan19437165 GRTNorth Vancouver Ship Repairers Ltd., North Vancouver as 'Fort St. Antoine'1949 - 1964Broken up at Karachi in February 1964
Colima later Al Chisti19171306 GRTSodra Varfvets Nya A/B, Stockholm as 'Svealand'1949 - 1954Broken up at Karachi in 1954Renamed in 1950
Al-Sayyada19447165 GRTVictoria Machinery Depot Company, Victoria B.C. as 'Hastings Park' 1952 - 1967Broken up at Karachi in November 1967First ship to dry dock at Karachi Shipyard.[2][6]
Al Ahmadi19405361 GRTLithgows Ltd., Port Glasgow as 'Risaldar'1958 - 1966Broken up at Karachi in June 1966
Al-Abbas19676087 GRTKarachi Shipyard1967 - 1971Sunk on 16 August 1971 in Operation Jackpot by the Mukti Bahini commandoes at ChittagongFirst merchant ship built at Karachi Shipyard.[2][6]

See also

References

  1. Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, "History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009" Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 5
  2. 1 2 3 Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 6
  3. Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 7
  4. Papanek, Hanna (1972). "Pakistan's Big Businessmen: Muslim Separatism, Entrepreneurship, and Partial Modernization". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 21 (1): 1–32. doi:10.1086/450605. JSTOR 1152902. S2CID 86853602.
  5. "Rise and fall of Karachi's Valika family (Part 1)".
  6. 1 2 Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, "History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009" Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 8
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