NAFL 4th Issue Low Res

Features
NAFL REVIEW
bulk throughput was up by well over 40%. We
have seen sustained double-digit growth in
SOHAR for over twelve years now, and we're
100% on track for continued expansion.”
What is really driving growth at SOHAR
Port?
MG: “SOHAR Port South is our new land
reclamation project and will allow us to add
more businesses to drive continued growth.
Orpic has nearly completed their refinery
expansion project, increasing capacity to
198,000 barrels a day; and they've just
started to build a US$6 billion polyethylene &
polypropylene plant, which will put SOHAR on
the map as a prime location for downstream
plastics industries.”
Which sectors are the Port focusing on?
MG: “SOHAR will be focusing on two main
areas moving forward: food and logistics. The
Port was originally based around three
industrial clusters: logistics, metals and
petrochemicals. We recently added food as
our fourth pillar with the launch of SOHAR
Food Zone, the region's first dedicated agro
terminal.”
What sets SOHAR apart from other ports?
MG: “We have what is probably the best
location of any port in the Middle East. We are
outside the Strait of Hormuz, which has well
over 50,000 vessels a year passing through
narrow and congested shipping lanes. That
s a v e s t i m e a n d
additional insurance
premiums. With a
draft of up to 25
metres alongside, we
are the deepest port
in the Gulf and South
Asia, and the region's
largest bulk Port. On
the landside, the
government has been
investing heavily into
n e w a n d
u n c o n g e s t e d
h i g h w a y s t h a t
connect us to Saudi
Arabia, the UAE and
the rest of the GCC.”
Is SOHAR ready for the new megacontainerships?
MG: “Hutchison Ports SOHAR has recently
completed work on Terminal C and is moving
into a new era of automation, as container
throughput has more than doubled in the past
eighteen months. The new facility allows the
remote operation of recently installed
quayside cranes with the reach to load and
unload 20,000 TEU ships.”
How important is the freezone in SOHAR?
MG: “In 2010, we added our Freezone next to
the Port, with a total area of 45 square
kilometres, and it acts as a magnet to attract
international investors. The first five square
kilometres of the Freezone are already leased
out and many of the companies are now fully
operational. We are aiming to fill the next
square kilometre before the end of 2017.”
How does SOHAR see its involvement in
China's One Belt One Road?
MG: “We recently signed our first sister-port
agreement with Shenzhen Port, China's third
largest, committing to closer collaboration on
many fronts. SOHAR sits ideally connected at
the crossroads of east and west as one of
the best placed strategic hubs for the Middle
East, and for onward shipments around the
Cape or via Suez Canal to Europe. You can
already see us as a prime regional hub on all
the official Chinese OBOR maps.”
Global Logistics Summit Tanzania
National Association of Freight and Logistics President Nadia Abdul Aziz, 2nd right, receives
from Tanzania Freight Forwarding Association President Stephen J. Ngatunga, right, a dhow
symbolizing close ties between the UAE and Tanzania. TAFFA hosted the Global Logistics
Summit in Tanzania on August 23-26, 2017.