Last Sunday's column (the first of the series) prompted a meeting of the clans. Could I help my comrades-in-shipping recover what is due to them under the 'law'? And from Salman Faruqui, Mian Nawaz Sharif's shipping secretary, came an e-mail asking if I would hear his swan song. Of course, and I now await interesting revelations.

My contemporary, Fakhruddin Millwalla, can still laugh (may he live and laugh long!). His ships were nationalized at the end of 1973. A member of the next generation of his family, Munir Millwalla, on November 23, was called to a meeting held by port-land acquiring- -and-selling minister of ports and shipping, Babar (Khan) Ghauri, after which he wrote to him telling him what his government owed to the Millwalla Group :

". . . The compensation pertains to the nationalized shipping company, namely Gulf Shipping Corp Ltd, which payment was approved way back in 1990 by your ministry, the DG Ports and Shipping office with the consent of the PNSC, the State Bank and the finance ministry as to who shall make the payment and the payment will be released to us soon."

Hope, as it is said, springs eternal in the human breast. Despite not receiving any money, Munir fell for Nawaz's 1991 ploy and the group once again ventured into the shipping industry and bought MV Mustansir. When the vessel arrived at Karachi, it was impounded by the customs who claimed duty, though the government had declared that no duty or sales tax would be charged. It remained idle at its moorings for over a year. Fakhruddin then managed to have it released, cut his losses and sold it.

The ship-owning family, the Dinshaws, principal shareholders of the Chittagong Steamship Corporation and Trans-Oceanic Steamship Company, in terms of the 'law' are claiming millions of rupees in compensation and interest accruing since January 1, 1974. They are in litigation in the High Court of Sindh and should, by law, win their case. But, and the but is a catch, if they do, the government will file an intra- court appeal which the Dinshaws should also win, and the government will then appeal to the Supreme Court. Russi Minocher Dinshaw, grandson of Nadirshaw Eduljee Dinshaw (NED), now in his seventies, is pursuing the case, and I hope he will be around to have the last laugh.

My clever contemporaries from Chiniot, Maula Buksh, Iqbal Buksh and their brothers, who ran United Oriental Steamship Company, lost the least when shipping was nationalized. They managed to get their ships away. All the brothers are now dead, but Iqbal's son Imtiaz, who grew up in London and learnt his shipping there, has now moved his base to Dubai. Good luck to him.

We, the partners of East & West Steamship Co, lost a lot. We were in the courts from 1978 to 1988. The Supreme Court ordered that we be paid about half of our claim of approximately Rs.200 million. The government paid up in 1990. On its own admission, a large amount was deducted from the sum determined to be paid to us in terms of the court's judgment.

The three creditor companies (Trans Oceanic, Chittagong and East & West) still figure in the PNSC annual reports under the heading of 'Contingencies'. The note at the end of the 2003 report : 'The Corporation disclaims any liability in respect of the above-mentioned amounts and any accretions to it upon final determination and settlement of the matter."

The new greenhorns, Masood Baghpati and Farooq Rahimtoola, who ventured into shipping after Nawaz's declared 1991 policy bought a number of ships, registered them in Pakistan, and proceeded to lose a lot of money. They are now wise. They operate from Dubai. Farooq is now troubled, the duplicitous government is still claiming from him amounts that are not rightfully due.

The November 23 meeting held by Communications Minister Ghauri came after a visit of our prime minister to Karachi earlier in the month during which he made noises about the need for the shipping industry to get going. So, the minister scheduled a meeting at which he gathered together the public sector shipping experts and a few representatives of the old private sector.

He asked the private sector to draw up a list of suggestions that would help push matters. Well, as mentioned in my column last Sunday on the subject of the moribund shipping industry in our country, although we have little faith, a few of us in the private sector would like to give Shaukat Aziz some points on which he could ponder.

* At the time of nationalization Pakistan had 71 ships and now only the ragtag Pakistan National Shipping Corporation is the proud owner of less than a dozen collapsing vessels.

* The shipping policy was announced in August 2001 but so far not a single ship has been added in the private sector.

Although the first objective of the Pakistan merchant marine policy 2001 was to "facilitate and attract private sector investment in shipping," just nothing has transpired.

* As soon as the public sector became aware that the present government was seriously considering the denationalization of the shipping industry, its luminaries, early in 2001, sent a detailed report to the ministry of communications explaining that if the public sector were to survive, it would have to be given highly favourable treatment, including the monopoly for the transportation of crude oil.

* A meeting on ports and shipping was then called during April 2001 which was chaired by the chief executive, General Pervez Musharraf, at which the ability and brilliance of the PNSC was lauded to the high heavens by the government's men. In those days there were no private sector parties in the shipping industry who could have been summoned to present their point of view, or to point out to the general that the PNSC has perennially suffered mounting losses which have even wiped out their equity. Frequent injections of equity, written-off debts, and other accounting manoeuvres were all to no avail.

* When the shipping policy was announced during August 2001 the cargo preference gave 'first right of the refusal to the PNSC-owned vessels', which was quite contrary to the interest of the private sector investors. The policy also called for review meetings of the policy at least once a year. But no private sector or private organizations/stakeholders were invited to these meetings.

* Shaukat Aziz must be told that unless a level playing field is offered to the private sector, not one man will be tempted to invest in shipping. They would be insane to do so.

* As it is, at present, under a bilateral agreement with India, a Pakistani ship loading Indian cargo has to obtain NOC from the government of India and vice versa. This restriction hampers the operation of Pakistani flag vessels in the international market, as approximately 80 per cent of the cargo in our region originates from or is destined to India.

* Certain important sections of the merchant shipping ordinance are still under review at the ministry of law, which naturally does not help matters at all. The ministry needs to be given a good prod.

* The shipping policy called for tax exemption for a period of 20 years, but the Central Board of Revenue circulars give a one-year exemption only, with the option of review.

* The PNSC has been given the sole right to transport some 10 million tons of crude oil for Pakistan's refineries at about three times the prevalent rate. How can this contribute to the betterment of the shipping industry? It is but a sop to the inefficiency and helplessness of the PNSC. The three tankers recently acquired by the corporation are barely operating, and as can be seen from the PNSC annual report July 2003/June 2004, some 90 per cent of its earnings is from chartered tonnage.

* The PNSC was created to support the exporters and importers of Pakistan. But it has totally ignored the dry cargo sector and even given up its rights at the various conferences. Liquid cargo is handled by the chartering of old Greek tonnage, and during the last six years the PNSC has not called for any open tenders.

If Prime Minister Aziz is serious about doing something about the pathetic state of his country's shipping industry, he would do well to summon members of the private sector, without calling any representatives from the public sector, hear them patiently, and then give the matter a good think.

Over to you, Shaukat.