In order to allow bigger vessels to berth at its terminals, SOHAR Port and Freezone’s container terminal has received four post-Panamax quay cranes from crane manufacturer ZPMC as it proceeds to the next phase of its expansion plan.
The facility is jointly owned by Hutchison (HPH) in Hong Kong, the Omani Government, C. Steinweg and other investors and is operated by Oman International Container Terminal (OICT).
SOHAR handled approximately 900,000 tonnes of cargo per week throughout 2015, setting a new record for a port which only saw its first ship arrive in 2004.
Technical Paper: SOHAR Port and Freezone
As each crane weighs hundreds of tonnes, the transport ship from ZPMC needed to be balanced by water ballast as the cranes were removed in order to keep its height constant above the water line and level with the quayside.
The new cranes have an outreach to serve 10,000 TEU container ships that already serve SOHAR and 20,000 TEU mega container ships in the future.
The handling capacity for container traffic at OICT in SOHAR has more than doubled throughout the last two years.
Read: Oman-HPH Quadruple Capacity Drive
Andre Toet, CEO at SOHAR Port, said: “As more lines from Asia start to make more direct calls to SOHAR, and the size of those container vessels continues to increase, SOHAR Port Authority is actively working together with OICT and our other terminals to increase efficiency and help reduce costs.
“For example, OICT recently introduced an automated truck appointment system to further reduce turnaround times and our Port Management System (PMS) is a new online platform that allows agents to access and share real-time information on cargo movements.”
Toet concludes: “These technologies ultimately generate costs savings that we can pass on right the way along the supply chain and will help make Oman even more competitive as a regional logistics hub for the future.”
