By Conrad Prabhu — MUSCAT: MARCH 25 - Port of Duqm, anchoring the giant Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Duqm on Oman’s Wusta coast, plans to establish a dedicated terminal for roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) cargo at its commercial quay — a move that underscores Duqm’s potential as a hub for automotive-related activities and RO-RO transshipment. According to a senior port executive, a RO-RO Terminal has now been envisioned as part of the port’s 2.2 km-long commercial quay. It will be located between the Multipurpose Terminal and a pair of Container Terminals planned at the port, said Capt Wim Aerbelien (pictured), Harbour Master and Chief Pilot of Port of Duqm Company.
Roll-on/roll-off cargo comprises essentially wheeled cargo, such as automobiles, trucks, trailers and other platform vehicles that can be discharged from suitably designed roll-on/roll-off ships. The dedicated facility is being created keeping in mind, among other objectives, the SEZ’s vision to host a major auto manufacturing industry in Duqm. A RO-RO Terminal will also be potentially helpful in the discharge of huge over-dimensioned project equipment that are shipped on platform vehicles, such as self-propelled modular transporters.
Already, two major auto manufacturing investments have been lined up for implementation at Duqm. Karwa Motors, a joint venture of Oman Investment Fund (OIF), a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman, and Karwa of Qatar, aims to commit RO 160 million in the establishment of a major auto assembly plant at the SEZ. A one million sq metre plot earmarked for the project will host a complex with a capacity to produce around 2,000 units of buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles of various sizes.
Oman Investment Fund is also firming up plans to set up another auto plant at Duqm in partnership with Iran Khodro Industrial Group, the largest auto maker in Iran. Orchid International Auto, the proposed JV, plans to invest around $200 million in an export-oriented facility at the SEZ.
Additionally, OIF is weighing other auto-related investments in the SEZ designed to underpin the growth of an automotive hub at Duqm.
Meanwhile, the joint venture of MSF (Portugal) and Serka Taahhut (Turkey) is currently undertaking the infrastructure development of the commercial quay at Duqm Port at a cost of $230 million.
Widely referred as the IP2 package of works, the contract covers the construction of roads, infrastructure and buildings at the Commercial Terminal and Operational Zone Areas of the port. Also as part of the package, the consortium will build warehouses, workshops and maintenance building, construct utilities, and lay tracks for port cranes and the future rail network.
“The master-plan foresees, after completion of the IP2 package by Q2 or Q3 of 2019, a multipurpose terminal (for multipurpose cargoes as well as project cargo), a RO-RO terminal, one or two container terminals capable of handling mega container carriers of 18,000 TEUs (primarily for transshipment), a small area for foreign navies, and a terminal for dry bulk cargoes,” said Capt Aerbelien.
“The completion of the IP2 project will enable us to make the transition from the present Early Operations phase to full-fledged commercial operations,” the executive told journalists during a media tour of the SEZ last week.
Development of a fully equipped commercial quay will help achieve Port of Duqm’s ambition to serve as an “enabler as well as the gateway” for the entire SEZ project,” said Capt Aerbelien. “We see ourselves as being the main facilitator for the entire enterprise of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD). As a window on the SEZ, Duqm Port’s location, as indeed that of the SEZ, will help tap captive markets, and over time, also help target markets in Africa and the Indian sub-continent, as well as in our backyard,” he added.
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