State-of-the-art hardware billed as the region's first
Muscat - In what is thought to be a first for the maritime industry in the region, Sohar Port and Freezone is set to take delivery of a fleet of remote-controlled Super Post-Panamax container cranes that would allow crane operators to load or unload giant containerships from the comfort of ground-level control rooms.
The new hardware will take the handling capabilities of the industrial port's Oman International Container Terminal to a new level, said Andre Toet, CEO -- Sohar Port and Freezone.
"As we speak today, there are four Super Post-Panamax cranes arriving in Sohar and will be discharged next week, and they are completely remote controlled," Toet said, noting that he believes Sohar Port is the first maritime gateway in the region to acquire such hardware that can be operated from a ground-level control room.
The announcement came during a panel discussion held as part of the Business Innovation Forum organised yesterday by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Muscat. Moderated by Willem Heeren, Chairman of the TKI-DINALOG Dutch Institute of Advanced Logistics, the panelists also included Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO -- Oman Air; Warith al Kharusi, Chairman of Oman Logistics & Supply Chain Association; Rogier van Beigen, Director Innovation - KLM; and Mahmood Sakhi al Balushi, CEO -- Al Madina Logistics Services.
Asked by the moderator if the deployment of such automated systems would antagonise port workers concerned about potential job losses -- the way it does in Europe and other parts of the world -- Toet said the response from the Omani labour force was expected to be just the opposite.
"It's a different scenario here," he remarked. "Considering that the labour force here is from the 'PlayStation generation', I think they are suitably equipped and will be looking forward to operating these Super Post-Panamax cranes by remote control sitting in a process room on the ground, and not atop a crane (as is the current practice). We are very happy with this major push in enhancing our modernisation, productivity and efficiency, as well as in opening up new job opportunities for Omanis," Toet stated.
Soaring approximately 30 storeys high, the electric cranes have the potential to speed up the loading and unloading of even ultra-large containerships that are expected to call at Sohar Port on a regular basis in the future.
In his comments, the CEO also said that the industrial port continued to make significant strides in the digitalisation of its services. Sohar Port has recently implemented a digital Port Management System that allows shippers and agencies in the local supply chain to monitor their cargo upon the ship's arrival at the port.
Earlier, Sohar Port had been selected for the trialling of the ROP's Single Electronic Window for customs clearance of goods. This state-of-the-art online system, dubbed 'Bayan', together with the newly introduced Port Management System, creates an e-commerce based platform at Sohar Port similar to that being enjoyed by some modern European gateways, he said.
"This takes the ease of doing business to the next level at Sohar Port. It's one of the important things to achieve as part of the implementation of the Oman 2040 Logistics Strategy to stay competitive," he added.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
