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Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, earlier this month witnessed a ceremony marking the start of full operations of Hamad Port, around six months ahead of the original schedule. Hamad Port is the country’s new gateway designed to boost cargo handling capacity and replace existing facilities in Doha for container and general cargo shipments.
Praising the role of the private sector in this mega project, the Prime Minister said that, “Hamad Port is a key pillar of the economy, and will make Qatar a maritime gateway for global trade as it provides maritime services according to the state-of-the-art global technology and international security and safety standards.”
Leading container shipping line, MSC, has confirmed that all its container vessel operations will now migrate from Doha to the new Hamad Port. Its 14,000 teu capacity, MSC Esthi, was in fact the first vessel to call at the fully operational port on December 1st this year, taking part in the official inauguration ceremony. Other lines, including Maersk Line, have made similar announcements to their customers, as Doha port operations are wound down. It is expected that Doha port will be completely closed to vessel operations by March 2017.
Hamad port currently has capacity for 2 million teu annually, with 1200m of quay, equipped with 8 ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 26 RTGs, but further development phases taking this to 6 million teu annually, are to be fast-tracked into operation by 2021. Over US$ 680 million of contracts are expected to be announced during 2017 for these phases.
The new port is to be operated by a joint venture created by Mwani Qatar and Milaha. The latter will have 49% of the terminal operator, which will be known as QTerminals.
Doha port is meanwhile being transformed into a cruise ship hub. The giant cruise ship MSC Fantasia docked in Doha on December 7th, marking the first ever arrival of a mega cruise ship in Qatar. The ship carried over 3,000 passengers and 1,300 crew members on its maiden voyage to Qatar. Further investment is planned to create advanced cruise terminal facilities in Doha port.
