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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Hamad Port has become one of the few ports in the Middle East to handle the first one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in just 14 months of its operations.
"Hamad Port marks the handling of one million TEUs coming from regional and global seaports via 22 direct navigation routes and around 120 navigation destinations," Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim bin Saif al Sulaiti said at a ceremony to celebrate the achievement.
Reaching the milestone ahead of its schedule demonstrates Hamad Port's operational efficiency, he added.
"This particular milestone is significant as it has been achieved under the current exceptional circumstances," the minister said, adding that it would not have been possible without unlimited support from the country's top leadership.
"Hamad Port has proved highly capable of not only flexibly handling the logistics challenges that have emerged from the current circumstances, but also overcoming them efficiently," the minister said.
Hamad Port's contribution in bolstering Qatar's marine trade is significant and many more efforts would be made to provide fast, effective services at the port and generate more support for the national economy, he added.
Ports around the world generally take longer to achieve this milestone of handling the first one million TEUs, QTerminals Chief Executive Officer Neville Bissett said, adding that the port would add another one million TEUs in a much shorter period. Rapid increase in the container handling business might see Hamad Port reach the two million TEUs throughput mark by the end of this year, he said.
Bissett said the ongoing blockade has had little impact on the operations of Hamad Port, except that the way in which goods entered Qatar earlier has changed.
"Hamad Port is now the main entry point for goods coming to Qatar. The increase in trading partners has definitely helped Qatar overcome the crisis. Qatar no longer depends on just a few countries for its imports as there is a much more diverse supply of imports available at very competitive prices," he said.
Besides the significant increase in container traffic, Bissett said the port has also witnessed a significant rise in bulk cargo after the blockade.
Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) CEO Captain Abdulla al Khanji said,"The shipping routes launched between Hamad Port and regional and international ports have provided additional reliable options and solutions for customers, playing a significant role in enhancing container handling operations and boosting trade via the Port."
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20/03/2018
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