Oman's Sohar Port terminals reaching out to Indian logistics firms

India-Sohar feeder services 4x since West Asia crisis, says Raid Al Rubaiey

Oman’s Sohar Port, which has emerged as a gateway for Indian shippers aiming to reach countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) amid the crisis in West Asia, is in talks with several Indian logistics operators and captive berth suitors eyeing terminals, a top executive said.

Seeing the latest burst of cargo, the port is exploring expansion and has enough land and waterfront available for this, said Raid Al Rubaiey, deputy chief executive officer, Sohar Port, and chief executive officer (CEO), Sohar Freezone.

“We are having discussion with a number of Indian terminal operators interested in operating their facilities at Sohar. Here, we also have dedicated terminals such as the Jindal facility where there are two terminals as captive operators. So, both the options — captive berths and multipurpose terminals for logistics operators — are being explored right now with Indian players,” Al Rubaiey told Business Standard.

The GCC is a regional alliance in West Asia comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Since the crisis in West Asia started in February, shipping lines had started calling at ports east of the Strait of Hormuz, such as Salalah, Khorfakkan, Sohar, and Jeddah, which led to these handling much more cargo than their usual capacity.