With Oman rapidly developing its ports and freight transport infrastructure through large investments, the country's shipping sector will see strong growth in the coming years, starting from 2014, according to a report published recently by the Business Monitor International (BMI).

According to the Oman Shipping Report 2014, the Sohar and Salalah ports are forecast to see strong growth in tonnage throughput over the next five years, with a boost for Sohar port to come in 2015 as commercial operations are transferred from the Port Sultan Qaboos (PSQ) in Muscat to Sohar.

BMI forecasts the tonnage throughput at Salalah port to grow by 12.3 per cent in 2014 to 9.22mn tonnes, with growth to average 6.7 per cent to 2018. The container throughput at Salalah port is forecast to return to a growth of 3.2 per cent in 2014, following an estimated decline of five per cent in 2013.

Total tonnage throughput at Sohar port is forecast to reach 58.23mn tonnes in 2014, a year-on-year growth of 15 per cent, while the growth over the medium term will average 24.1 per cent, due to the transfer of operations from PSQ to Sohar, according to BMI.

"Oman continues to develop into a regional powerhouse for the shipping and transshipment of dry-bulk goods such as iron ore. To this end a new port is being constructed at Duqm and new cargo terminals at Salalah and Sohar. All of this is aided by Oman's position on the Arabian Sea, outside the Arabian Gulf, enabling it to offer shorter shipping lines than ports within the congested body of water," BMI said.

The report said that volumes handled on Oman's freight transport network are set to enjoy strong growth over the coming years. "The sector will benefit not only from a rapidly growing economy, and consumer base, but also sizeable investment," the report noted.

A senior official with Oman Shipping Co (OSC) said, "With the development of the port infrastructure, the shipping sector is set for good growth in the coming years. Duqm will be a new area of interest as lots of industries are going to be developed there, including an oil refinery. With these infrastructure developments we will see Oman develop as a hub for transshipment in the future."

He added that, with operations at PSQ to be transferred to Sohar port by the end of 2014, Sohar port will start to see a jump in volumes handled from 2014.

"Our strategy is to grow in line with the growth of the economy. We will expand our capacity as industry grows. Duqm will lead to the biggest growth of the shipping industry," the official added.

Nabeel Najeeb, general manager of Ships Agency and International Logistics Co, said that with increasing infrastructure facilities and import-export activities, 2014 is expected to be quite positive for the shipping industry.