Sohar Port, Oman, has the capacity to welcome the world’s largest container and bulk carrying ships after its tug fleet was expanded
This is one of the world’s fastest-growing ports and lies at the centre of global trade routes between Asia and Europe.
Sohar includes terminals for containers, dry bulk, liquid, gas and general cargo, operated by Hutchison Ports Oman, Vale Oman, Oiltanking & Co Terminals, and C Steinweg Oman.
Its initial expansion involved renewing the tugboat fleet to manage the rising number of ships berthing at these terminals. Svitzer officially welcomed Svitzer Saham, Svitzer Sohar, Svitzer Shinas, Svitzer Liwa, and Svitzer Barka to its fleet in Sohar last week.
This fleet now has the necessary resources and tug power to provide safe and efficient services to ships using the port facilities into the future. Svitzer secured a 15-year extension to its concession to provide towage and berthing services from Sohar Industrial Port Co, a 50:50 joint venture between the Port of Rotterdam and the Sultanate of Oman.
Sanmar built these tugs at its shipyard in Turkey using adapted designs by Robert Allan. They are Bigacay and Sirapinar-class tugs, modified for Svitzer’s requirements and with a combined bollard pull of 340 tonnes.
Sanmar’s last delivery, Svitzer Saham, is a Bigacay-class tug, built as a variant of a RAstar 2900SX design. It is joining two sister tugs, Svitzer Sohar and Svitzer Shinas. These tugs have around 80 tonnes of bollard pull.
Sanmar also built Sirapinar-class tugs Svitzer Liwa and Svitzer Barka to RAmparts 2200 design with 50 tonnes of bollard pull. These tugs are already in action assisting ships into and out of the port’s terminals, and more demand will be coming as Sohar is extended.
Future expansion to the port complex includes a second-phase extension of the freezone and construction of Sohar Port South which will add 250 hectares to the land area and new deepwater berths to provide additional cargo capacity.
Powerful tug design and operations will be discussed and presented during Riviera’s Smart Tug Operations Virtual Conference on 1 December - use this link to view the conference details and to register to attend.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.