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Muscat: The Omani government has almost doubled its allocation for the Duqm Port & Dry Dock project to allow for the development of a world-scale maritime gateway on the sultanate’s southeastern coast.
The initial investment in developing the marine infrastructure for the giant port and ship repair yard complex has gone up from OMR 368.9 million to OMR 700 million.
The additional allocation will go towards expanding the overall capacity and size of the port to make it suitable for super tankers and mega-sized chemical carriers.
An international consortium of contractors is currently developing the marine infrastructure for the port project, covering the dredging and reclamation components, as well as construction of breakwaters and quay walls.
However, with the latest allocations, the scope of their contract has been further enlarged to enable the creation of a deepwater port that can accommodate a major shipbuilding yard in the future.
The enlarged port will now feature extended breakwaters, deepwater berths of -18 metres, a considerably lengthened quay wall to accommodate chemical and liquids carriers, and a deepened access channel.
The Omani government hopes to capitalise on Duqm’s proximity to international and regional sea lanes to attract all manner of ships that require maintenance, repair and dry docking services.
Its location outside the geopolitically sensitive Arabian Gulf means that ship owners pay lower risk premiums.
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