Sohar seeks tenants

SOHAR Port and Freezone is looking for a tenant for its Terminal 2D.

Terminal 2D was initially developed in 2009 for a container terminal expansion, but SOHAR Port and Freezone is now offering the 750,000 square metre waterfront site to businesses involved in the logistics and metal sectors. The port is promoting the site’s proximity to the surrounding industrial areas, available water and accessibility to logistics services that surround the SOHAR Port and Freezone.

Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO of SOHAR Port and Freezone

Commenting on the potential of Terminal 2D, Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO of SOHAR Port and Freezone said, “SOHAR is strategically positioned at the centre of global possibilities, and has a consumer reach of over 2.2 billion across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Potential customers are generally based outside Oman, so we aim to garner as many opportunities as possible to support them in setting up at SOHAR. Additionally, with the help of our One-Stop-Shop facility and the benefits we offer, investors will receive a favourable return on investment.”

The One-Stop-Shop (OSS) service acts as a single-window for the port’s clients to obtain all necessary documents to operate a business. These include company registration and licensing, plot work and labour permits, visas, etc.

“With several regional ports currently running out of space, SOHAR still has the capacity to further expand and attract prospective investments. Clustering is an innovative form of business. Therefore, the close proximity to our petrochemical, logistics and food clusters will also support the creation of upstream and downstream opportunities for further business developments. Moreover, as the Port and Freezone are both managed under a single entity, this allows for a seamless connection between the two, while also enhancing efficiency for feedstock imports and product exports,” Geilenkirchen added.

Location of Terminal 2D at Sohar Port

Source: WorldCargo News

Ports feature in INFRA Grants Announced for 2019

The American Association of Port Authorities has reported that port-related projects in Baltimore, Cleveland and Miami will together receive over US$142M, or 15.7%, of the total of US$900M in grant funding for 20 projects selected by US DoT under its Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects Program, or INFRA

The three port-related projects receiving 2019 INFRA grants are:

US$125M to the Maryland Department of Transportation for Baltimore’s Howard Street railroad (CSX Transportation) tunnel, to enable double stacking of shipping containers to and from the Port of Baltimore in this crucial freight-rail corridor.

US$$9.02M to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) for Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River bulkhead project, to replace dilapidated bulkhead on the Cuyahoga River Ship Channel and prevent a collapse of Franklin Hill along Irishtown Bend (see NOACA picture, left). This is a key economic and environmental protection funding initiative for the Port of Cleveland, which worked in coordination with NOACA to secure the INFRA grant

US$8.04M to PortMiami for its Seaboard Marine Terminal rehabilitation and expansion, which is the second year in a row this PortMiami terminal project will get an INFRA grant. Last year it received US$7M for a new gate complex.

Two other INFRA grants, notes AAPA, will go to projects that, while not directly related to ports, will help alleviate traffic congestion for improved freight movement. One is a US$125M award to the Alabama Department of Transportation to construct a new, six-lane, cable-stayed I-10 bridge across the Mobile River channel near the Port of Mobile. The other is a US$10.516M award to the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District to rehabilitate a 91.3-mile continuous short-line railroad between McGehee, Ark., and Tallulah, La.

Source: WorldCargo News

Russian container handlers increase volume

During H1 2019, Russia’s seaports (including those of annexed Crimea) increased their total container handling volume by 5.2% year-on-year to around 2.6M TEU

The latest data are from the country’s Association of Commercial Seaports (ASOP).

Russia’s Baltic harbours (Petrolesport, Saint Petersburg pictured left) handled half the overall volume, or 1.34M TEU (up 7.6% year-on-year), including 1.1M TEU (up 5.9%) in the Big Port of Saint Petersburg, which includes Bronka and Kotlin Island.

The country’s Pacific harbours handled 831,860 TEU (+ 7.6%). Vladivostok and Vostochny accounted respectively for 482,210 TEU (up 11.1%) and 196,530 TEU (down 2.9%).

Aggregate volume in the Black Sea/Sea of Azov was around 400,000 TEU (down 2.2%).

The Arctic ports increased their volume by 4.3% to 72,000 TEU, including 27,600 TEU (up 29.6%) in Murmansk.

The Caspian ports (mainly Astrakhan) handled just 1,300 TEU, (up 38.8%).

During calendar 2018, overall container traffic nationally increased by 9.8% to 5.08M TEU. According to local market analysts, container handlers may be able to expand aggregate handling volume by up to 10% a year for the next few years, depending on certain macro- and micro-economic factors.

For example, more bulk cargoes, such as coal, grain and sunflower oil, are being containerised and attracting higher prices for the shippers, leading to an increase in currency exchange rates and easing the effects of international economic sanctions against Moscow.

On the other hand, while there are plans to develop a new general cargo port in Primorsk, Russia’s Baltic container handling market is already oversupplied and in any case faces competition from transit gates in the Baltic Republics and in Finland.

Source: WorldCargo News