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Muhammadi Steamship Company Limited

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Muhammadi Steamship Company Limited
Company typePublic
IndustryShipping
Founded2 May 1947
Defunct1974
FateNationalised by the Government of Pakistan
SuccessorPakistan National Shipping Corporation
Headquarters,
Pakistan
Area served
Pakistan
Key people
Fakhruddin Valika (chairman)
OwnerValika family
Habib family

Muhammadi Steamship Company Limited was a Pakistani shipping company which was headquartered on Muhammad House in Karachi. It was one of the oldest locally owned shipping companies in Pakistan until it was nationalised in 1974.

History

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Muhammadi Steamship Company Limited was incorporated on 12 May 1947.[1] It was a large-scale joint venture among business families of Pakistan, including Habib, Cowasjee, Dada, Arag, and Adam, which held ownership until 1963 when Valika family acquired the stake.[2] Under the Valika family's leadership, the company built Al-Abbas, which was the first major ship to be built in Karachi Shipyard.[3] 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.

In 1949, it became the first Pakistani shipping line to be publicly listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange.[4]

Muhammadi House on McLeod Road (now I. I. Chundrigar Road) was the headquarters of the company.[5]

Ships

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Ship Built Tonnage Builder In Service Fate Notes
Al Murtaza Ali 1942 7235 GRT West Coast Shipbuilders, Vancouver as 'Fort Norman' 1948 - 1954 Sold in 1954 to United Oriental Steamship Company, Karachi and renamed ANWARBAKSH
Husaini later Al Husaini 1943 7157 GRT North Vancouver Ship Repairers Ltd., North Vancouver as 'Fort Clatsop' 1948 - 1968 Broken up at Karachi in November 1968 Renamed in 1949
Ahmadi later Al Ahmadi 1920 5186 GRT Todd Dry Dock & Construction Company, Tacoma as 'Pallas' 1948 - 1954 Broken up at Karachi in 1954 Renamed in 1949
Al Hasan 1943 7165 GRT North Vancouver Ship Repairers Ltd., North Vancouver as 'Fort St. Antoine' 1949 - 1964 Broken up at Karachi in February 1964
Colima later Al Chisti 1917 1306 GRT Sodra Varfvets Nya A/B, Stockholm as 'Svealand' 1949 - 1954 Broken up at Karachi in 1954 Renamed in 1950
Al-Sayyada 1944 7165 GRT Victoria Machinery Depot Company, Victoria B.C. as 'Hastings Park' 1952 - 1967 Broken up at Karachi in November 1967 First ship to dry dock at Karachi Shipyard.[4][6]
Al Ahmadi 1940 5361 GRT Lithgows Ltd., Port Glasgow as 'Risaldar' 1958 - 1966 Broken up at Karachi in June 1966
Al-Abbas 1967 6087 GRT Karachi Shipyard 1967 - 1971 Sunk on 16 August 1971 in Operation Jackpot by the Mukti Bahini commandoes at Chittagong First merchant ship built at Karachi Shipyard.[4][6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, "History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009" Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 5
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Rise and fall of Karachi's Valika family (Part 1)".
  4. ^ a b c Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 6
  5. ^ Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 7
  6. ^ a b Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, "History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009" Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 8