Omani ports' contribution to trade tops OMR16.5bn
Muscat: Seaports of the Sultanate of Oman has led the trading activity accounting for nearly OMR16.5 billion, or 77 percent of the total trade volume in 2024, according to Mohanna bin Musa bin Baqer, Director General of Ports at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.
Muhanna bin Moosa bin Baqer, Director General of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said that the Omani ports play a vital role in exchange of trade between Oman and other countries and are considered one of the sectors supportive economic diversification.
The Omani ports have coped with the qualitative shift in the regional and international trade by being at the centre of the world shipping lines.
Handling goods
He said that the Omani ports last year witnessed a remarkable increase in terms of handling goods worth over OMR137 million tonnes, an increase of 15% compared to 119 million tonnes in 2023.
Handling liquid goods at Sohar Port increased by 72 percent while the goods handled at the ports of Salalah and Al Suwaiq increased by 10 percent each, he said, adding that the goods of all types handed at Duqm Port increased by 152 percent, which reflects the development of operations and the increase in the demand for the integrated services of the port.
The number of ships anchored at the Omani ports during 2024, increased by 1.5% to over 12,000 with 4.2 million containers handled by the ports of Salalah and Sohar where 3.3 million containers were handled at Salalah port and over 942,000 containers handled at Sohar port.
On the marine tourism, he said that in 2024, the ports of Sultan Qaboos, Khasab and Salalah received 114 tourist vessels carrying over 416, 000 tourists.
Mega ships
On the expansion and development of the ports and services, he said that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology signed last year a concession agreement with 'Asyad Ports Company' for the development, management and operation of Al Suwaiq Port to enable the port receive mega ships and handle all types of goods.
The ministry has completed the project on development and expansion of the container terminal at Salalah Port which is project to increase the capacity to 6.5 million containers, he added.
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