Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) has shifted its quayside cranes and container handling equipment from Sohar Port to the new Terminal C
OICT is a joint venture between Hutchinson Port, government of Oman, Netherlands? Steinweg and a number of Omani investors.
With this move, OICT expects to increase volumes of cargo well above the new capacity?s design capacity of 80,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) per year.
Rashid Jamil Syed, CEO of OICT, said, ?Upon the deployment and re-commissioning of the cranes, Terminal C will become a world-class container terminal. This positions OICT as the potential logistics gateway to the Middle East.?
According to the company, the terminal has seven quay cranes and 14 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGCs). OICT is also preparing to take delivery of six additional RTGCs, 18 yard tractors and more than 30 trailers.
Even though the terminal is located a few hundred metres from Sohar Port, the transfer was an elaborate process, added OICT officials. A high-tech self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) was deployed to load the equipment onto a 96 metre-long barge for its transfer and subsequent unloading at Terminal C.
Reports have stated that the volumes of cargo handled at Terminal C have surged since the soft-launch in May 2014. Projections for July and August 2014 are estimated at 30,000 TEU and 40,000 TEU respectively.
