Sohar Port takes delivery of four post-Panamax cranes

The Omani port received four new post-Panamax quay cranes from Shanghai-based equipment manufacturer ZPMC.    Sohar Port and Freezone’s container terminal took delivery of four new post-Panamax quay cranes from Shanghai-based equipment manufacturer ZPMC.
   The cranes have an outreach to serve the latest 10,000-TEU containerships that already frequent the port as well as 20,000-TEU mega containerships in the future, Sohar Port and Freezone said.
   The container terminal is operated by Oman International Container Terminal (OICT), which is a joint venture between Hutchinson Port Holdings, the government of Oman, C. Steinweg and other investors.
   Container handling capacity at OICT in Sohar has more than doubled in the last two years, and in 2015, Sohar Port and Freezone’s container throughput skyrocketed 62 percent compared with 2014 volumes.
   The sharp year-over-year container throughput growth in 2015 resulted from Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman cutting ties to commercial traffic in the summer of 2014 to become a cruise dedicated port, which resulted in OICT shifting its cargo traffic to Sohar.
   Currently, the container service with the largest average vessel capacity calling Sohar Port and Freezone is the CMX/ME1, jointly operated by APL, Hapag-Lloyd, MOL and OOCL, according to BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool. The CMX/ME1 has an average vessel capacity of 8,827 TEUs and is dedicated to trade between Asia and the Middle East.
   The Sohar Port Authority is working with OICT and its other terminals to increase efficiency and drive down costs, as more lines from Asia start to frequent Sohar, along with larger containerships, Sohar Port CEO Andre Toet explained.
   “For example, OICT recently introduced an automated truck appointment system to further reduce turnaround times and our port management system is a new online platform that allows agents to access and share real-time information on cargo movements,” Toet said.