04 August 2015
MUSCAT: Sohar port is in the process of developing its container handling capacity of terminal C to reach its final capacity of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum, said a senior port official.
Presently, the port's container handling capacity is close to one million TEUs. The port authorities are discussing with contractors for paving large areas and building yards to capitalise on the recent shifting of commercial activities of Port Sultan Qaboos to Sohar port.
However, the future plan is to build another large terminal (terminal D) to take the container handling capacity to almost five to six million TEUs per annum. The development plan for terminal D will be finalised during 2016-17 period and the work will start thereafter, noted Edwin Lammers, executive commercial manager at the Port of Sohar. "We have to build quay walls for the terminal," noted Lammers. However, the details and timeline for the proposed development are not yet finalised.
The relocation of all commercial traffic from Muscat has been the main driver for recent peaks in cargo volumes, especially in containers, but Sohar has also been growing organically. Sohar port will continue the development of facilities at the port to capture growing trade activities in the Middle East and the potential to serve the latest class of 20,000 TEU mega-ships.
Lammers also said that the Tender Board has approved land allocation for the proposed agro-terminal and the authorities can now finalise development plans for the same.
In fact, a new sugar refinery and a food grain handling facility (of Oman Flour Mills) will come up close to Terminal B and therefore, it will be exclusively used by these two units.
The Oman International Container Terminal (OITC) manages Sohar Port's container terminal.
Many of the world's most renowned shipping companies such as Maersk Line, UASC, CMA and APL already operate from the existing container terminal of Sohar port. These recent developments enable shipping lines to bring their mainline vessels directly into Oman.
MUSCAT: Sohar port is in the process of developing its container handling capacity of terminal C to reach its final capacity of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per annum, said a senior port official.
Presently, the port's container handling capacity is close to one million TEUs. The port authorities are discussing with contractors for paving large areas and building yards to capitalise on the recent shifting of commercial activities of Port Sultan Qaboos to Sohar port.
However, the future plan is to build another large terminal (terminal D) to take the container handling capacity to almost five to six million TEUs per annum. The development plan for terminal D will be finalised during 2016-17 period and the work will start thereafter, noted Edwin Lammers, executive commercial manager at the Port of Sohar. "We have to build quay walls for the terminal," noted Lammers. However, the details and timeline for the proposed development are not yet finalised.
The relocation of all commercial traffic from Muscat has been the main driver for recent peaks in cargo volumes, especially in containers, but Sohar has also been growing organically. Sohar port will continue the development of facilities at the port to capture growing trade activities in the Middle East and the potential to serve the latest class of 20,000 TEU mega-ships.
Lammers also said that the Tender Board has approved land allocation for the proposed agro-terminal and the authorities can now finalise development plans for the same.
In fact, a new sugar refinery and a food grain handling facility (of Oman Flour Mills) will come up close to Terminal B and therefore, it will be exclusively used by these two units.
The Oman International Container Terminal (OITC) manages Sohar Port's container terminal.
Many of the world's most renowned shipping companies such as Maersk Line, UASC, CMA and APL already operate from the existing container terminal of Sohar port. These recent developments enable shipping lines to bring their mainline vessels directly into Oman.
© Times of Oman 2015
