At present the Karachi Port has 30 dry berths and three liquid berths. Apart from this, there are six berths dedicated for country crafts. The average berth occupancy range is between 45-55%. The waiting time outside is almost zero. However, for seasonal cargo bunching of ships does take place. Nevertheless, all efforts are made to accommodate as many ships as possible without disturbing the timings of linear schedule vessels. The berth average occupancy at the oil piers is 50% and waiting period is zero except for tide constraints for vessel greater than 12 drafts.
At present all equipments for cargo discharging and loading is being provided by the Stevedores. The present average cargo handling rates per 24 hours are at par with regional ports. Some examples are as under:
| CATEGORY | |
| UOM | TONS |
| Iron and Steel | 9000 |
| Coal | 8000 |
| Fertilizer | 7000 |
| Iron Scrap | 7000 |
| General Cargo | 4000 |
| Containers | 700 |
The two container terminals are capable of handling up to Post Panamax ships with six Gantry Cranes. The average time for handling a ship up to 3000 TEUs is 20 hours.
The Karachi Port Trust maintains two floating cranes and one heavy lift quay crane capable of lifting up to 100 tons and 40 tons respectively. The Karachi Port also maintains four barges (3 general cargo and 1 dangerous goods cargo) for over side discharging to facilitate inter wharves movement.
Presently the port open cargo storage area is about 450,824 sq. meters of plinth and covered cargo storage area is about 101,403 sq. meters. The 100,000 sq. meter coal yard has recently been established and new area is also been added as per requirement. The similar area has also been developed for handling of shredded scarp.
The 329,753 sq. meters is also available at the Thule Produce Yard (TPX) to facilitate the export cargo handling as well as empty containers.