Model of refrigerated trucks for fish transport launched

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on Thursday launched the first model of refrigerated fish product trucks “less than 3 tonnes” in the Small Truck Support Project funded by the Agricultural and Fisheries Development Fund.

The objective of the project is to raise awareness about the importance of using refrigerated containers in fish trucks by supporting and encouraging their owners to develop their vehicles which will contribute significantly to maintaining the quality of fishery products and increasing their competitiveness in the local and international markets.

Dr Hamad bin Said al Oufi, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said that the ministry is seeking to develop the fishing sector by implementing a number of projects and initiatives which reflected the increase in fish production during the successive fiveyear plans. He added that an increase of about 24 per cent compared to 2016 with a growth rate of about 12 per cent since 2011.

He pointed out that the ministry has taken care to develop fish marketing system by improving the infrastructure of fish markets and rehabilitating them, establishing new markets and issuing legislation and regulating laws that contribute to facilitating investment in this sector, adding that the ministry also increased fish sales outlets (stores) to about 604 shops.

He stressed that the Central Fish Market in Al Felaij has played an important role in balancing the supply and demand of fish and providing them in the local market at reasonable prices, considering that fish trucks constitute an important pillar in the fish marketing system. He added that the number of fleet of fish transport vehicles is currently 4,000 cars, 222 of which are equipped with refrigerator, representing only 6 per cent, indicating that it will benefit from this project in its first batch 41 cars for transporting and marketing, owned by full-time Omanis for marketing profession.

This comes within the framework of the “Improvement of the Cooling Chain Infrastructure” initiative in the National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification (Tanfeedh) in cooperation with the Implementation Support and Followup Unit and the Oman Global Logistics Group (ASYAD), which is responsible for following up all the initiatives of the logistics sector.

Abdurrahman bin Salim al Hatmi, CEO of Oman Global Logistics Group, said, “The importance of the cooling chain improvement initiative and its direct role in providing the logistics sector with the necessary tools to enhance the Sultanate’s competitiveness in this field.

He added that the launching of refrigerated trucks for the transport of fish is the beginning of the efforts in the marketing chain and the supply of fish, which transport fish and their products from the fish landing sites to marketing outlets and fish processing companies.