(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will attend today the official inauguration of Hamad Port in Umm Al Houl.
Hamad Port is Qatar's largest access to the sea and its gateway to more than 150 destinations around the world and will provide the country with complete independence in its import and export of goods to various continents.
The port is the newest among the six ports extending along the country's coasts, namely: Doha, Mesaieed, Haloul, Ras Laffan and Ruwais.
The port is located in the city of Mesaieed south of Doha and is the largest port of its kind in the Middle East and has the capacity to receive all types of ships and vessels of various sizes and weights.
The port covers a total area of 28.5 square kilometres and the total cost is $7.4bn. It has a general cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per year and a grain plant with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per year, a station for the reception of livestock, a station for coastal security vessels, as well as a customs inspection area and a 110-meter observation tower and a ship inspection platform, multiple marine facilities and administrative buildings and a number of other facilities such as warehouses, mosques and restrooms as well as a medical facility.
The port is equipped with the latest equipment and machines. The loading and handling of trucks is very fast, as the container is unloaded and delivered to the importer in only 20 minutes, with an average of 30 containers per hour.
Customs and other entities provide facilitation to importers, while the total capacity of the port is about 7.6 million containers, including 2 million containers per year within the first phase of operation of the port. During the first half of this year, Qatar ports received up to 470,000 tons of general cargo, about 407,000 of livestock, 449,000 tons of building materials and more than 400,000 tonnes of equipment and vehicles.
Qatar Railways Company announced that it has received the first batch of Doha Metro trains at Hamad Port, two months ahead of schedule, after a 21-day journey from the Japanese port of Kobe.
The company said that the group of trains included four trains out of a total of 75 that will serve the Doha Metro project, whose first phase is set to open in 2020.
Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) has expanded its maritime network by launching several direct shipping lines between Hamad Port and a number of ports in the region and beyond to provide fast and secure solutions to exporters and suppliers from around the world. The new routes connect Qatar ports with Sohar and Salalah ports in Oman, Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait, Karachi port in Pakistan, Izmir port in Turkey, Mundra and Nava Shiva ports in India.
The new line between Hamad Port and Sohar Port will provide direct shipping services at a weekly frequency of three trips, with the trip lasting 1.5 days. The direct transport service between Hamad Port and Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait will be weekly and the transit duration will be competitive at just one day. The new service is ideal for perishable goods and foodstuffs.
The navigation line with Karachi Port in Pakistan will also be weekly and will boost trade between Qatar and Pakistan and help in providing swift and guaranteed solutions for exporters and importers from both countries. It also decreases the transit duration from Hamad Port to Karachi to six days and eight days in the return.
Emphasising the economic importance of Hamad Port, a contract was signed for the design and construction of the premises and food security facilities at the port at a cost of QR1.6bn.
The project will be developed and constructed on an area of 53 hectares featuring facilities for the manufacturing, conversion and refining of rice, raw sugar and edible oils. These products will be available for local, regional and international use.
The Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti said that Hamad Port's food security warehouses project will provide a two-year stock of manufactured and stored goods for three million people.
He pointed out that the contract signed is related to the first stage of 26 months, while the second phase, which is no less important, is the operational phase through the issuance of tenders for the private sector and other stages related to food security. Qatari companies will set up factories in countries including Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, which will lead to greater self-sufficiency.
The opening of the port will be a great celebration and a sign of Qatar's new phase of construction. Hamad Port is expected to be a major boost to Qatar's economy by diversifying it, transforming the country into a regional trading center and boosting the state's strategic inventory of food and medicine.
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