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The Port of Sohar, Oman, has further developed its bunker supply capabilities with the announcement that two licences have been granted for the establishment of bunker operations at the port.

The licences were signed on Sunday January 17th in Muscat, Oman, where Shell Oman Marketing / Shell Marine Products will be cooperating with Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC) and, in a separate agreement, Oman Oil Marketing Company (Oman Oil) and Matrix Marine Holding GmbH (Matrix Marine) are set to cooperate in a joint venture bunkering operation, also in Sohar.

Commenting on the news, SIPC said "As the port authority and landlord of the Port of Sohar, SIPC stimulates additional services to facilitate these already imminent developments. Taking the requirements of vessels into account, it was only natural that, next to the existing services, the introduction of marine bunker fuels was considered."

Jan Meijer, CEO of SIPC said "with the increase of vessels calling the port and with the growing focus on the Port of Sohar, we are very pleased to sign new important agreements that show our strengths and our progress" and that we have such important global organizations like Shell Marine Products and Matrix Marine with their local partners directly involved."

The Port of Sohar said that from mid June 2010, Shell and Matrix/Oman Oil Marketing Company will be offering marine fuels of different grades to vessels calling at the Port of Sohar itself or at the extended anchorage area, which is located close to the international shipping route to and from Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman.

In addition, an agreement is said to have been reached to create the port’s first marine fuel facility.

Omar Ahmed Qatan, CEO of Omanoil said, “Omanoil is proud to be given the opportunity to jointly provide bunkering services at the Port. We are collaborating with Matrix Marine Holding GmbH who will bring in their knowledge, experience and expertise in establishing the bunkering services in the Port of Sohar.”

“Omanoil and Matrix Marine will offer quality products and services complying with customer’s requirements and high HSSE standards,” he added.

Stefan Herde, Managing Director of Matrix Marine said, “It is a privilege to be invited to establish a first class bunker service in such a modern and growing port like Sohar.”

“We strongly believe that bunkers offered by Omanoil and Matrix Marine together will contribute further to the successful development of the port and that our service will attract additional vessel traffic to Sohar,” he added.

The increase in liquid bulk and dry bulk as well as containers contributed to this growth. Oman International Container terminal showed a 200 per cent growth in containers; from 30.000 to almost 100.000 TEU,” Meijer said.

Sohar, which is located approximately 200 kilometers north of Muscat, has developed from a port under construction into a fully operational port which consists of an increasing number of modern terminals.

Last year, Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co LLC launched its new independent tank terminal in Sohar. The facility is able to store and handle 842,500 cubic metres of petroleum products and chemicals. It has multiple pipeline connections to the local 116,000 bpd refinery and is strategicaly located in the vicinity of major international shipping lanes just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

The launch of the new bulk storage terminal in Sohar followed a positive period for transshipment operations at the port's Oman International Container Terminal (OICT).

In 2008, Sohar Port’s Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) revealed that the number of vessels calling for transshipment operations had increased, partly due to the considerable savings in bunkers costs it claimed could be achieved. Faced with congestion at other ports in the region, an increasing number of shipping lines were said to be evaluating Sohar's suitability as an alternative for their transshipment business.

Speaking in September 2008, OICT Chief Executive Officer, Lawrence Teo said “We are seeing transshipment volumes grow as shipping lines see the benefits of transshipping out of Sohar. By calling at Sohar, which is well outside the Arabian Gulf, a vessel saves two days of sailing time into the Upper Gulf, and a similar amount of time for the return leg. Besides saving on expensive charter rates as a result, there are also considerable savings in bunker fuel costs, which are presently at an all-time high."