Sohar Industrial Port News

essDOCS announced that Non-Executive Board Member, Andre Toet, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors, succeeding Barry Williams, who is standing down after chairing the board since 2013, having previously served a term as Chairman from 2006 to 2011. Andre Toet possesses over 30 years of maritime industry experience and has held numerous supervisory board positions, of which PortInfolink (subsequently Portbase), directly supported his previous role as Non-Executive Board Member for essDOCS. He has served as Managing Director of P&O Nedlloyd Europe, CEO of Maersk Central Europe, COO of the Port of Rotterdam and, since 2011, CEO for Sohar Industrial Port Company in Oman.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has signed a partnership agreement with the Indonesian Port Corporation Pelindo I for the development of a new deep sea port at Kuala Tanjung near to Medan in Sumatra, Indonesia. Under the agreement the Port of Rotterdam will undertake a feasibility study for the new port. Depending on the outcome of the feasibility study the Port of Rotterdam decide whether to enter into a joint venture with Pelindo I to construct and develop the port at Kuala Tanjung. “We want to share our knowledge in the construction, development and management of Kuala Tanjung. We are confident that the Port Authority and Pelindo I will form a strong team that will serve the country and provide for a better future,” said Allard Castelein, ceo of the Port of Rotterdam.

The first cargo ship delivering Iranian goods docked at the Omani port of Sohar,  a few weeks after Tehran and Muscat opened a new shipping route. The vessel, titled Genaveh 12,  container with a capacity of 96 TEUs, is the first ship put into operation in the new Iran-Oman shipping line, which was opened some two weeks ago. Iran and Oman have recently established a direct shipping line between the two countries to enhance maritime trade. The line will have two sailings per month. According to officials, more vessels will join the line to increase the cycle of maritime transportation. Other ports in both the countries will also be linked in the near future.

In a decisive move to convert Oman's Sultan Qaboos Port into a tourism hub August 31, 2014 would be the deadline for receiving container, cargo, vehicle carriers and other vessels carrying project material at the port, reports the Times of Oman, citing Minister of Transport and Communications, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi. The directive comes in response to the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to convert the Sultan Qaboos Port into a tourist port and transfer all commercial activities to the Sohar Industrial Port.

Construction of the new 70-hectare container terminal at Port of Sohar begins shortly, operational in 2014. As part of the expansion deal, container-terminal operator Hutchison Whampoa has signed an agreement for developing the 70-hectare container terminal for Oman International Container Terminal which will raise capacity from 800,000 Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 1,500,000 TEU's. Port of Sohar is a deep sea port in the Middle East situated in the Sultanate of Oman, 220km northwest of its capital Muscat. The management of this industrial port lies with Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC), a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of Oman and the Port of Rotterdam. Port of Sohar houses three clusters: logistics, petrochemicals and metals.

The 9,000 metric tonne MV Maria, owned and operated by SAL Heavy Lift GmbH, berthed at the container terminal C Steinweg Oman (CSO). On board was a 300-tonne gas turbine due for installation at a new power plant under construction in the Batinah area. The arrival of the 1,000th vessel this early augurs well for a significant increase in ship calls during 2012. When compared with figures for 2011, Port of Sohar received its 1,000th vessel in September of the year, notching up a tally of 1,474 calls by year’s end. The CSO Terminal handles industrial project cargo, among which many heavy lifts, a variety of break-bulk cargos (aluminium ingots and sows, steel billets, steel coils, steel pipes and tubulars, steel plates, and so on), dry-bulk and RO-RO cargo.

Electronic Shipping Solutions, a provider of electronic shipping documents, announces four senior appointments to its main Board. These new members bring experience from the shipping, ports, legal and finance sectors to ESS and underpin its expansion into the container shipping market, following the successful roll-out of the ESS CargoDocs solution for electronic bills of lading in the bulk liquid markets. Well-known names from the ports and liner shipping sector, André Toet and Nigel Pusey, join legal expert Noel Buttigieg-Scicluna on the board. Finance specialist Robert Mai succeeds James Fields, who is stepping down. Toet brings 25 years of maritime experience at P&O Nedlloyd, Maersk and Port of Rotterdam to the ESS board.