The Qatari ports are fast becoming a hub of regional trade as state-of-the-art facilities witnessed a 32% year-on-year rise in container transshipment in the first half of the current year.
“Mwani Qatar ports witnessed a 32% year-on-year rise in container transshipment volume during the first six months of 2023. Livestock, building materials, and RORO, increased by 196%, 5.3% and 5.5%, respectively,” Mwani Qatar said in a tweet.
According to released figures, the three ports (Hamad Port, Ruwais Port, Doha Port) handled 633,029 containers, 771,883 tonnes of general cargo, 274,694 tonnes of building materials, 40,162 vehicles, 294,031 heads of livestock while 1316 ships called at these ports in the first half (January to June) of 2023.
In the last year (2022), Hamad Port witnessed the same growth in transshipment activity as 30% of the total containers in 2022 were transshipped. During the year 2022, Mwani Qatar continued its efforts to transform Qatar into a vibrant regional trade hub by strengthening the role of Hamad Port as a pivotal gateway for transshipment in the region, Mwani Qatar said in January 2023.
The three ports (Hamad Port, Ruwais Port, and Doha Port) had handled 1,435,252 containers, 1,596,826 tonnes of general cargo, 516,839 tonnes of building materials, 79,401 vehicles, 205,608 heads of livestock while 3,031 ships called at these ports in 2022.
“A total of 4,28,021 TEUs (containers) were transshipped through the Hamad Port in 2022, representing 30% of the total containers handled during the year,” Mwani Qatar had earlier announced.
Earlier in a report, Mwani Qatar had said that Qatar’s share in overall Middle East trade is expected to significantly increase with the robust technological infrastructure supporting Hamad Port’s second container terminal (CT2).
Hamad Port’s strategic geographical location offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq, and south towards Oman. In support of ongoing efforts to attract other shipping lines to the port, Hamad Port is being positioned as a transshipment hub for the upper Gulf and Oman, QTerminals said on its website.
Hamad Port has led from the front in boosting Qatar’s maritime sector as it occupied the lion’s share in the overall port traffic.
