Over 11,000 vessels call at Omani ports: Sayyid Badr says 'decades of hard work'

Muscat: The Omani ports & marine terminals handled more than 11,000 vessel calls in the first eight months of 2026, said Sayyid Badr al Busaidi, the Foreign Minister, said in a statement. 

"Behind that figure is decades of national stability and hard work. Thanks to everyone involved in this significant achievement," he said.

Laila bint Ali a Batashi, Director of the Department of Ports and Marine Piers at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said that the number of ships received by Omani ports and marine piers outside ports increased by 27.9 percent to reach more than 11,000 ships by the end of August 2026, compared to 8,793 ships during the same period in 2025.

She saiadded in a statement to the Oman News Agency that container handling activity witnessed a growth of 20.5 percent, with the number of containers handled exceeding 4 million standard containers, compared to 3.36 million standard containers during the same period last year. This clearly reflects the growth of commercial activity and the efficiency of operational processes in Omani ports.

She further noted that the volume of goods handled at the ports recorded a remarkable increase of 62.3 percent, reaching about 146 million tonnes by the end of August 2026, compared to about 90.5 million tonnes during the same period in 2025. This also reflects the expansion of the movement of goods and the growing role of ports in supporting supply chains and logistics services.

Vehicle traffic recorded the highest growth among the monitored operational indicators, with an increase of 182.6 percent, as the number of vehicles handled in the ports rose to 188,368, compared to 66,661 during the same period last year.