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Tribune News Network
Doha
UNDER the auspices of the Emir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Hamad Port is scheduled to be officially inaugurated in the first week of September in the Umm Al Houl area.
Hamad Port is the largest port in the Middle East and one of the infrastructure megaprojects in Qatar with an area of 28.5 square kilometres, four kilometres basin in length, 700 metres in width and 17 metres in depth; the specifications that qualify it to be capable of receiving the world's biggest ships.
The port's capacity will reach 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) annually on completion of all the construction phases. It has a general cargo terminal with a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes annually, a terminal for cereals with a capacity of one million tonnes annually, a terminal to receive vehicles with a capacity of 500,000 vehicles annually, a terminal for livestock, a terminal for coastguard vessels and a terminal for marine support and backup.
Hamad Port applies the highest standards of safety and security, including a uniquely designed port Control Tower at a height of 110 metres, a customs inspection area for rapid cargo clearance (5,600 containers per day), a ship inspection platform and multiple maritime facilities, in addition to other utilities such as storage units, mosques, rest areas, medical clinics and offices required for port operation.
Besides, the port also features the latest technologies for operation which are being deployed and used for the first time in Qatar and the region.
As part of Qatar's major steps toward increasing its nonpetroleum exports and building manufacturing industries, a free zone has been established adjacent to Hamad Port.
The Port, through an integrated logistic zone, will help connect Qatar to railway networks in the Gulf countries. The expressway network, a modern network that feeds the port, will help in mobility and flexibility to and from the port, in addition to lowering the cargo transport cost, which would make the port a regional hub for shipping.
Hamad Port has been designed in a way that makes it expandable.
The port has recorded significant milestones, regionally and internationally, in quite a short period of time, playing a key role in breaking the impact of blockade imposed on Qatar by securing multiple global marine transport lines, revitalising importation traffic of basic commodities, needs and supplies and providing alternatives after Qatar's neighbours had shut down their land, air and marine borders.
As early as the blockade started, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) responded by launching new shipping routes, connecting Hamad Port directly with several marine destinations, particularly Omani seaports of Sohar and Salalah, Turkish Derince Port, Pakistani Port of Karachi and the two Indian ports of Mundra and Nhava Sheva.
Last July, Hamad Port received 48,873 containers, 80,275 tonnes of general cargo, 4,922 vehicles and machinery, 74,148 heads of livestock and around 7,897 tonnes of building materials.
The port has won the largest smart and green-friendly project award at the Seatrade Middle East, Indian Subcontinent & Africa Awards 2016 held at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai. Later in November, Hamad Port received the '2016 Sustainability Award' in 'Light Industry Ports' category from the Gulf Organization for Research & Development (GORD), for its commitment to sustainability best practices.
It is worth mentioning that Mwani Qatar's Integrated Management System (IMS) had won internationally-acclaimed certifications after passing an external audit conducted by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA): ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management System, ISO 14001:2004 for Environmental Management System and OHSAS 18001:2007 for Occupational Health and Safety Management System.
