December 03, 2012 [Oman Daily Observer] - Port of Sohar plans to build a new Liquid Jetty to cater for an anticipated rise in liquid cargoes handled at the industrial port, fuelled in large part by a strong uptake of bulk storage capacity at the central tank terminal operated by Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals & Co.
The new jetty, designed to cater for product tankers of up to 120,000 deadweight tonnes (DWT), will further reinforce Sohar Port’s standing as an emerging liquids hub at the entrance to the Arabian Gulf, according to a senior official of the port authority.
“We are right now in the design phase of the New Liquid Jetty project,” said Edwin Lammers, Executive Commercial Manager, Port of Sohar. “Towards the second half of next year, we expect to finalise the detailed design and start the tendering for the construction, which should commence either during summer or just after summer,” the official added in comments to the Observer.
The new Liquid Jetty project will lead to a further expansion of the capacity of the port’s liquid jetty complex, currently comprising a total of six berths. The Oiltanking-Odfjell terminal joint venture manages the jetty complex on behalf of the port. All six berths, two of which are dedicated for the operations of Orpic’s Sohar Refinery, have witnessed strong growth in tanker calls, driven primarily by a surge in demand for the bulk liquid storage facilities offered by Oiltanking-Odfjell at the port.
Oiltanking-Odfjell, which specialises in the bulk handling and storage of clean petroleum products, chemicals and gases, has seen the capacity of its tank terminal grow by leaps and bounds since its launch in 2008.
Starting with 842,500 cubic metres (cbm) of storage capacity at launch, the terminal was expanded shortly thereafter to cater for 425,000 cbm of new capacity.
In July this year, Oiltanking-Odfjell brought a further 27,300 cbm of new capacity into operation, taking its total capacity to a world-class 1,297,800 cbm.
“There is a lot of demand for the services of Oiltanking-Odfjell terminal, very likely because of the location. They have a lot of plans to expand. But while they can look at expanding on the landside, we would also need to cater for the growth in vessel calls,” Lammers said.
He further added: “We have entered into a design contract for the construction of a new jetty that can accommodate larger vessels that (Oiltanking-Odfjell) see connecting to their expansion plans as well. The tender to nominate the design consultant and finalise the technical design is ongoing.”The new jetty is slated to be brought into operation in early 2015, Lammers stated. “When we start next summer, it will take about a year to build it, and say another half a year for Oiltanking-Odfjell to put up its infrastructure.Thus, by the end of 2014 or early 2015, it should be ready to handle two large product tankers on either side of the jetty.”
Significantly, the expansion of the port’s Liquid Terminal will also enable Oiltanking-Odfjell to cater for the terminaling requirements of a major Bitumen Refinery planned at the Port of Sohar.Bahrain’s Mashael Group has plans to develop a 1 million tons per annum capacity bitumen processing refinery at the industrial port with an investment of around $200 million.
“Oiltanking Odfjell has been receiving a lot of interest for bitumen in relation also to the Bitumen Refinery planned at Sohar. Thus, with the addition of a new jetty, they can make sure there is flexibility in receiving bitumen ships at various jetties,” Lammers added.
