Sohar Port handled 1m tonnes of cargo a week in 2015

Muscat: Total cargo volume at Sohar Port and Freezone touched 50 million tonnes in 2015, a rise of 12 per cent compared to 2014 — an impressive average of almost one million tonnes a week.
Following the first full year of additional traffic from Port Sultan Qaboos, container traffic was up by a massive 62 per cent from 2014. Break bulk also grew at Sohar Port, with a rise of 46 per cent from 2014, to over 1.9 million tonnes. RoRo figures saw one of the biggest increases and were up by more than 90 per cent, with over 230,000 vehicles handled in 2015.
Sultan Al Habsi, chairman of Sohar Port and Freezone, as well as Sohar CEOs Andre Toet and Jamal Aziz, attended Sohar business event.
“An average cargo throughput of close to a million tonnes a week in 2015 is testament to the success of our operations at Sohar. Our rapid growth further strengthens our position as the new gateway to the Gulf region and our continued development as a very significant regional logistics hub,” said Andre Toet.
In 2015, Sohar added a number of new direct lines to its already impressive roster, announcing the addition of global players Hanjin, Evergreen and Simatech, adding more direct links to the Far East which in turn will sink costs all the way along the supply chain.
“As the port grows so does our Freezone and we are seeing more and more companies coming in to leverage our excellent logistics infrastructure. Not just the proximity of a world-class port, but also new and uncongested highways to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a new cargo airport, and this year work will start on our first rail connection from Sohar to the Emirates border at Buraimi,” Jamal Aziz, CEO of Sohar Freezone, said.