Muscat - The construction of the new 70-hectare container terminal at Port of Sohar will begin in March, 2013 and will be fully operational by the end of January, 2014, according to the CEO of Port of Sohar.
Speaking to Muscat Daily on the sidelines of the press conference for the GCC Supply Chain and Logistics Conference on Saturday, Andre Toet said, "The construction of the new terminal will start in March, 2013. The soft opening for the terminal will be held at the end of November and the terminal will be fully functional by the end of January, 2014."
The expansion will involve total investment of over RO50mn.
As part of the expansion deal, container-terminal operator Hutchison Whampoa has signed an agreement for developing the 70-hectare container terminal for Oman International Container Terminal. This will raise capacity from 800,000 Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 1,500,000 TEUs.
"Not much work needs to be done; the beams for the cranes are already in. Its now more or less about paving the whole terminal and getting the cranes. We are expecting the delivery of the first three new Post-Panamax cranes to handle big ships and they will arrive just after summer," Toet added.
© Muscat Daily 2013