A dedicated terminal will be established to accommodate vessels up to 16m of draft
MUSCAT -- Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC signed an agreement with TM International Logistics Limited (TMILL), a Tata Steel subsidiary, along with partners, Khimji Ramdas Shipping, to establish an operating company for the handling of dry bulk minerals.
According to Sohar Bulk Terminal, the operations will begin on December 15 and will mark the start of new opportunities for local aggregate producers and quarry holders. "This agreement is considered as a very important progress in the development of Port of Sohar. It will generate opportunities for local companies to start mining and exporting minerals from the Batinah region and through that bring jobs for the local Omani workforce," said Jan Meijer, the CEO of Sohar Iindustrial Port Company (SIPC).
Along the earlier constructed bulk jetty in Sohar, a dedicated terminal will be established that can accommodate vessels up to 16 metres of draft. Although the terminal will initially cater for the large demand for a local aggregate export terminal, the facility is equipped to export and import a full range of bulk minerals as for example limestone and clinker.
Jan Meijer CEO, SIPC and Jamal Aziz, DCEO signed the agreement at the Sohar Port office with Pankaj Khimji, Director of Khimji Ramdas Shipping LLC, and Dibyendu Bose, Managing Director of TMILL.
According to officials at the Port Company, the consortium is currently working on the designs of the terminal, in order to assist the local aggregate quarry holders. They are preparing a temporary site from where operations can start by mid-December.
The design of the permanent facility upholds a 3.5 km conveyor belt system to connect the storage yard with the terminal. The capacity of the permanent terminal will, due to the use of modern handling equipment, reach 10 million tonnes per annum at full production. The Port is one of the largest port development projects in the world with investments exceeding $14 billion.
© Oman Daily Observer 2011
