Full steam ahead for Port of Duqm's development

The Port of Duqm Company (PDC) is a 50/50 joint venture between the Port of Antwerp and the government of Oman. “The main objective is to bring in the knowledge to operate and manage the port. The Port of Antwerp is a big player in the European market with a proven international track record of expertise,” said Peter Broers, CEO of the PDC.

Due to the scale of the port in Duqm, PDC aims to engage professional terminal operators for each specific discipline, i.e. a container-operator, a dry-bulk-operator, a liquid-bulk-operator, and a multi-purpose-operator. According to Broers, this approach will greatly improve the performance of the port.

Strategically located in the central part of Oman, the Port of Duqm is well placed to become the main entry and exit point for all the oil and gas fields and related activities in this region. The area is also rich in minerals and the PDC will look to capitalise on this to stimulate development in this sector. “With vast limestone, gypsum, and dolomite deposits around Duqm, it could become a focus for mining activities and other associated industries,” said Broers.

The whole port development is estimated to cost approximately $2 billion and the port should start full-fledged operation by 2015. In the meantime, PDC has started ‘Early Operations’ catering to the needs of a major group of clients – companies engaged in oil field development.

The Early Operations phase centres on a 300m long quay wall which is ready to receive ships carrying project cargos. The 300m quay is part of a 2.2km long commercial quay, whose substructure is substantially complete.

“For the moment, we are working on project cargo and since the beginning of our Early Operations we already received two project cargos that could not be received in any other port in Oman... Duqm is the only port in the Sultanate capable of receiving this kind of over-sized cargos,” concluded Broers.