Shinas Port to expand
Oman targeting UAE trade
Diversifying beyond oil
Oman is expanding one of its smallest ports located in the northern town of Shinas, in an attempt to bolster the sultanate’s re-export business and container connectivity.
The project, which is expected to start in the third quarter of this year, will increase its area by 40 percent to 1.8 million square metres, according to the state-owned Oman News Agency (ONA).
“The project will include the construction of a new breakwater for larger vessels, expansion of container areas as well as expansion of passenger ferries platforms,” Abdulbaqi Al-Kindi, CEO of the port, was quoted as saying by ONA.
According to analysts, the port, which is located just 150km from the UAE, is seeking to compete with its Gulf neighbours in the re-export sector.
“Oman is accelerating its efforts to justify the fact that it has the longest coastline in the Arabian Peninsula, to claim a stake in maritime and compete directly with its neighbours, particularly the UAE, with re-exports,” Abdullah Al-Kiyumi, a retired official at Oman Maritime Affairs, told AGBI.
Oman’s biggest port in Sohar is starting to compete for traffic with Dubai’s Jebel Ali and other top ports inside the Gulf, as part of a far-reaching plan by Oman to diversify its economy beyond oil.
Sohar Port is located on the northern coast about 200km to the southeast of Dubai.
The Sohar and Shinas ports are about an hour’s drive away from each other. The other container port in Oman is in Salalah, which is the second biggest, and the other is in the town of Duqm.
Oman’s coastline stretches for 1,700km from the UAE in the north to Yemen in the south.
Oman is producing about a million barrels of crude oil a day, which makes up roughly 70 percent of its national income.
