Sohar Port performance robust

dubai — Sohar Port and Freezone revealed updated performance figures during its annual business reception in Muscat recently.

Despite generally lower revenues and a slump in activity in the global maritime industry, throughput at Sohar was up again and topped an average of one million tonnes a week for 2016. Container traffic was up by 15 per cent compared to 2015, break bulk was up by 18 per cent and liquid bulk throughput increased by 12 per cent year-on-year. Sohar received well over 2,600 vessel calls in 2016, also a significant increase in numbers despite the global trend towards larger ships.

The new Food Zone was one of the main highlights of plans announced for 2017.

Sohar CEO Mark Geilenkirchen said: “One of our goals is to maximise our prime strategic location, advanced logistics infrastructure and optimal connectivity to help reduce the 70 per cent gap between food consumption and food production in the GCC; our new Food Zone development will also be seamlessly integrated with Oman’s other food security efforts.”

“Sohar Port South is a significant land reclamation area, currently under construction, designed to accommodate new industrial projects that will be announced soon. The project will include new, deepwater berths to the south of the existing port area.”

Sohar will also witness a number of new developments in 2017, as plans for the second phase of the free zone take shape. The first 500 hectares of phase one have almost all been leased out.

Sohar Freezone CEO Jamal T. Aziz said: “We are currently improving the business environment based on the output received from the sultanate’s Tanfeedh process. This includes further streamlining the free zone’s one-stop-shop procedures for investors and ensuring that international best practices are applied.”