East & West Steamship Company

East & West Steamship Company was one of the oldest locally owned shipping line in Pakistan until it was nationalised in 1974. Its ship, SS Fatima was the first ship ever registered at the newly established Port of Registry at Karachi in August 1948.[1] It was owned by the Cowasjee family. The company was resructured as the 'East and West Steamship Co. (1961) Ltd.' from 1961

Directors

The following list consists of individuals who at one time were directors of the company.

Agents

The company served as agents for Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan and The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited of Bombay (now Mumbai), India.[3]

Ships

Ship Built In service for Company Type Tonnage Reference Fate Notes
SS Fatima 19421948 - 1956 Steel; cargo ship 671 GRT Broken up in March 1962[4]Built as H.M.I.S. 'Shillong' (naval trawler) by Burn & Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Figura 19431948 - post 1959 Steel; cargo ship 482 GRT Built as H.M.I.S. 'Cuttack' (naval trawler) by Burn & Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1949
SS Firishta 19421948 - post 1959 Steel; cargo ship 467 GRT Built as H.M.I.S. 'Poona' (naval trawler) by Hooghly Dkg. & Engineering Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Fritha 19421948? - post 1959 Steel; cargo ship 467 GRT Built as H.M.I.S. 'Agra' (naval trawler) by Hooghly Dkg. & Engineering Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Forma 19411948? - post 1959 Steel; tug 471 GRT Built as H.M.I.S. 'Travancore' (naval trawler) by Garden Reach Workshop Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1952
SS Fravarta 19421948 - post 1959Steel; tug 445 GRT Built as H.M.I.S. 'Karachi' (naval trawler) by Alcock, Ashdwon & Co. Ltd., Bombay, converted in 1949
SS Firoza 19131947 - 1966Steel; cargo ship 4279 GRT Broken up at Karachi in October 1966 Built as 'Falls City' by Ropner & Co. Ltd., Stockton-on-Tees
SS Firdausa 19231949 - 1963Steel; cargo ship 7938 GRT Broken up at Karachi in April 1963Built as 'London Importer' by Furness S.B. Company, Haverton Hill
SS Futura 19191951 - 1960Steel; cargo ship 6869 GRT Broken up at Karachi in October 1960Built as 'Crosskeys' by Skinner & Eddy, Seattle
SS Fausta 19221951 - 1963Steel; cargo ship 5055 GRT Broken up at Karachi in October 1963Built as 'Schwarzald' by Deutsche Werft, Tollerort
SS Fatakarda later Minocher Cowasjee 19201950 - 1957 Steel; cargo ship 6,640 GRT[5] Foundered in 1957[6] Reported 24/01/1957 in distress in position 25.30S 68.00E, on passage Dairen for Cape Town and AntwerpBuilt as 'Parisiana' by Irvine's Shipbuilding & Drydocks & Co., West Hartlepool. Renamed from 'Fatakarda' to 'Minocher Cowasjee' in 1955.
SS Fakirjee Cowasjee 19251952 - 1967Steel; cargo ship 5328 GRT Broken up at Karachi in June 1967Built as 'Manchester Commerce' by Furness S.B. Company, Haverton Hill
SS Feronia 19401958 - 1970Steel; cargo ship 5095 GRT Broken up at Karachi in September 1970Built as 'Orient City' by Furness S.B. Company, Haverton Hill
MV Rustom 19531961 - 1974Steel; passenger & cargo liner 9547 GRT Broken up at Gadani Beach in November 1980Built as 'Santa Teresa' by Howaldtswerke, Hamburg
MV Ohrmazd 19681968 - 1974 Steel; passenger & cargo liner 11,046 GRT Broken up at Gadani[2] Beach, arrived 6 July 1994 Built by Burntisland Shipbuilding Company, Fife, Scotland

Lost ships

Burntisland Shipbuilding Company

The penalties imposed on the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Scotland for the delays in completion of the Ohrmazd in 1968 proved too much for the Scottish company and caused it to go into liquidation.[7]

Court cases

The company's agent, M.N. Sidhwa was involved in an income tax court case in August 1962, which was decided against it.[8]

Nationalisation

During the nationalisation drive of Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the company was merged into Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC). The owners took this nationalisation to court, whereby the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in their favour.[9] The Government assessed compensation at Rs. 97.012 million (2008).[9]

See also

References

  1. Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 12
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ohrmazd Burntisland Shipyard. Retrieved 07 March 2011
  3. Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 16
  4. Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 15
  5. 5.0 5.1 Allen, Tony (2010-04-11). "SS Minocher Cowasjee (+1957)". The Wreck Site. The Wreck Site. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 14
  7. Shipyard Burntisland Shipyard. Retrieved 7 March 2011
  8. MN Sidhwa vs Income tax Commissioner, 1962 Indian Law Retrieved 7 March 2011
  9. 9.0 9.1 Annual Accounts for 2009 PNSC Retrieved 7 March 2011

Further reading

External links