New Duqm fisheries hub targets annual throughput of 200,000 tonnes of fish

MUSCAT, DEC 18

A major fisheries port planned for development at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm will seek to anchor the Sultanate of Oman’s leading position among world-scale hubs in the Indian Ocean.

In addition to attracting commercial vessels for fish processing and trading at Duqm, the hub also has ambitions to lure investments across the fisheries value chain, and offer facilities for R&D and digitalisation, according to a key project official.

“We want the port to be green, to be efficient and to become a hub for fisheries exportation from Oman to all the world. And as part of that, there will be the creation of a lot of highly skilled positions, including those who will be involved in the digitization of the commercial process,” said Lionel Rabin (pictured), founder and managing director of Haltiqa Consulting, the project manager of Duqm Fisheries Port.

Last week, Marsa Al Duqm Investment — a consortium of Omani and international firms — signed agreements with Omani authorities to invest in the infrastructure and commercial facilities to attract investors into the proposed fisheries hub Speaking to the Observer, on the margins of the signing ceremony, Rabin said Duqm’s reach as a fisheries processing and trading hub will be ambitious.

“So the fish will be landed in Duqm, it will be graded, sorted, traded electronically and people will be able to buy the fish from all over the world, including Europe. In addition to that, the capacity of the port will enable trades of around 100,000 tonnes of fish through the fish market inside the port. But we aim for twice that volume to transit through the port — about 200,000 tonnes per year — some of it will be traded in the port or it will be exported or traded elsewhere.” A major processing centre on a hilltop overlooking the port will targets investments in processing fish, freezing, even cooking, preparing ready meals, and canning tuna and sardines – activities that will make Duqm a food hub as well as for export, said Rabin.

Also given Duqm’s strategic location, the hub will attract all kinds of fishing boats, including very large commercial fishing vessels from the northern Indian Ocean, he said. “These big boats will come and discharge their fish, but they will also come for maintenance. So we'll have a maintenance and repair hub which will create a lot of employment as people come to repair their boats. They'll come from the Seychelles, they'll come from Mauritius and Pakistan, and from all over the place, creating value in Oman.”

Additionally, as part of the configuration of the port, an innovation, research and development and training centre will be integrated into the hub, the Project Manager said. “We'll be training the young generation people to become fishermen, to become engineers, to become all the supporting jobs that are needed for the fishing industry. We, as Marsa Al Duqm Investment, will be managing all those aspects, maintenance, training, innovation and so on. We will enhance value by extracting ingredients from fish – from the skin and from the bones to serve the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.”