Port of Sohar expands capacity to 6 million TEUs

Hutchison Port Holdings plans to invest $303 million by 2019 to expand the Oman International Container Terminal at the Port of Sohar, quadrupling container handling capacity at the port.    The world’s largest marine terminal operator, Hutchison Port Holdings, plans to invest $303 million by 2019 to expand the Oman International Container Terminal at the Port of Sohar in Oman, Group Managing Director Eric Ip said last week. The expansion is expected to quadruple the facility’s annual capacity to 6 million TEUs.
   OICT is a joint venture between HPH, the government of Oman and Netherlands-based Steinweg. Sohar lies outside the Straits of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman, about 200 kilometers from the capital of Muscat and 160 kilometers from Dubai.
   Last year, the government of Oman began a program to transform Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat into a dedicated cruise port, forcing all cargo traffic to Sohar, which was designed primarily for breakbulk and bulk cargoes.
   HPH is accelerating the development of Terminal C and future phases of its plan include the construction of Terminal D, as well as road and rail connections to main transport arteries.
   The construction of Terminal D may start as early as 2018 or 2019, said Ip, according to an HPH summary of his remarks at the GCC Supply Chain & Logistics Conference in Sohar.
   Ahmed Al Futaisi, Oman’s minister of transport and communications, said productivity for handling containers and general cargo in Sohar already exceeds the previous levels at Port Sultan Qaboos.
   “We will continue the development of facilities at the port to capture the growing trade activities in the Middle East and the potential to serve the latest class of 20,000-TEU mega-vessels,” Ip added.
   Oman is also building an inland port and logistics park outside Muscat to expedite the clearance of cargo from Sohar and increase the efficiency of road and rail transport to the Muscat metropolitan area. Read about the South Al Batinah Logistics Area in the May issue of American Shipper, “Oman Invests in Logistics” (pp. 42-42).