SOHAR -- Global container carrier APL has commenced services to the Port of Sohar with the arrival yesterday of a giant container ship on a maiden visit to the industrial port's Oman International Container Terminal (OICT). MV APL Chile, a 4,038 TEU (twenty-equivalent container unit) vessel deployed by APL on its China Middle East service (CMX), discharged 593 TEUs of containers destined for Muscat-based consignees.
The visit, the first by an APL vessel, underlines Sohar's growing appeal to international container shipping lines, particularly in light of the world-class services offered by OICT. A statement by OICT said APL's decision to call at Sohar attests to the terminal's competitive prices and superior performance, characterised by a gantry crane productivity of 30 moves per hours and a truck turnaround of 20 minutes. All data interchanges are facilitated by OICT's real-time online computerised system which automatically tracks the movements of all containers without manual intervention.
APL's China Middle East Express (CMX) is one of the industry's fastest services that connects North China via Shanghai as well as Hong Kong/South China directly to the Middle East. Since it was launched in 2004, the CMX service has been increasingly popular with shippers looking to capitalise on the fast-growing trade between China and the Middle East, while also taking advantage of the seamless connection between the Far East and the Middle East.
For consignees in the Sultanate, the service offers an express channel connecting Sohar with the Far East. Several leading Muscat-based business houses and entities were among the consignees for yesterday's shipment of 593 TEUs. They included Saud Bahwan, Oman Cables Industries, Future Pipe Industries, Oman Foodstuff, and The Public Authority for Food Reserves and Stores, among others.
Import volumes of Muscat bound containers are expected to grow at Sohar as consignees see the logistical and economic benefits of operating through OICT. APL's maiden visit to Sohar is a major boost for OICT as it seeks to position itself a world-class container terminal in the Lower Gulf. A subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), APL's global container shipping business offering more than 60 weekly services and nearly 300 calls at more than 90 ports in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It combines world-class intermodal operations with leading-edge IT and e-commerce.
OICT is a member of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in a total of 292 berths in 47 ports, spanning 24 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. HPH also owns a number of transportation-related service companies. In 2007, the HPH Group handled a combined throughput of 66.3 million TEU worldwide. Other OICT investors include the Government of Oman and a number of other local Omani investors.
By Conrad Prabhu
© Oman Daily Observer 2008
