Construction work has commenced in earnest on the Sultanate’s first inland port facility at Khazaen Economic City, the country’s first integrated logistics hub, which is coming up at Barka midway between Muscat and Sohar Port.
The inland port – also known as a ‘Dry Port’ – is one of several anchor projects that will underpin Khazaen’s development into a leading destination for logistics, light-industrial, food processing and distribution activities in the Sultanate.
Khazaen, the master developer of the Economic City, said in a post that the Dry Port will also make an important contribution to, among other things, achieving the objectives of the National Logistics Strategy 2040, which seeks to position the Sultanate as a leading logistics-friendly destination regionally and globally.
The announcement comes just over a year since Khazaen Dry Port Company, a consortium headed by Marafi – the wholly Omani government-owned port operator – signed an agreement with Khazaen for the development and operation of the Dry Port initiative.
Marafi, with a 50 per cent equity stake in the dry port company, is joined by leading Omani corporate entities Khimji Ramdas Shipping (30 per cent) and Al Madina Logistics Services (20 per cent) in the delivery of the venture.
Under the deal, Khazaen Dry Port Company secured a lease covering around 250,000 sq metres of land within Khazaen for the establishment of the Dry Port in phases. In Phase 1, the joint venture is committed to developing around 100,000 sq metres of the site with an investment of RO 10 million.
When operational, the new dry port will be more than just a half-way point for the storage of shipping containers bound for, or arriving from, Sohar Port. Besides enabling the speedy flow of cargo containers to and from the maritime port, the inland freight terminal will also pave the way for stuffing and destuffing of cargo containers, aggregation and redistribution of goods, maintenance and repair of shipping containers, and so on.
Additionally, the presence of Customs services on-site will enable the clearance of import and export containers at Barka, thereby alleviating potential congestion at the entry points into Sohar Port.
Longer term, Khazaen Dry Port Company sees the potential for ‘road trains’ to be operated between Khazaen and Sohar Port.
Road trains are primarily heavy trucks hauling two or more semi-trailers laden with shipping containers – a feature that contributes to greater efficiency in the transportation of cargoes and ultimately increased cost savings.
Given Khazaen’s location adjoining the Batinah Expressway, road trains carrying multiple containers or other cargoes represent a cost-effective alternative to the present mode of transporting one 40-foot or two 20-foot containers per truck.
Furthermore, heavy cargo movement on the Batinah Highway will be predominantly diverted to the Expressway once the dry port is operational, it is hoped.
Source : Zawya
