Hutchison to develop Oman terminal

Hutchison to develop Oman terminal    Hong Kong-based port operator Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) has signed an agreement to invest and operate a container terminal in the port of Sohar, Oman.
   The agreement was made with the Omani port’s management company, Sohar Industrial Port Co., which is a joint venture between the Government of Sultanate of Oman and the port of Rotterdam.
   HPH said it will establish a new company, Oman International Container Terminal (OICT), with contributing investment from the government of Oman, Steinweg of the Netherlands and other Omani investors. HPH did not mention the amount of investment involved in the project.
   OICT is scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2006 when the terminal will be equipped with post-Panamax quay cranes and have a quay length of 520 meters (1,706 feet) with a depth alongside of 16 meters (52.5 feet).
   The next phase of development will include an additional quay length of 970 meters (3,182 feet) and a depth alongside of 18 meters (52.5 feet), enough to accommodate the latest generation of mega vessels. The development is expected to be completed by the end of 2007.
   “Having the shared vision with the government and SIPC, I am confident that OICT will rapidly establish itself as the premier container handling facility in the Gulf region,” said John Meredith, group managing director of HPH.
   The port of Sohar is located outside the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman, approximately 200 kilometers from Muscat and 160 kilometers from Dubai.