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Oman’s Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm has entered into an agreement with the Combined Group Contracting Company for the latter to build the necessary infrastructure for a government-run berth at the new port. The facility will include 980m of quay and will serve various government agencies. It is the first of its type to be constructed at an Omani port.
In addition the Port of Duqm Company has signed a 25 year lease agreement for a six hectare plot of land with United Engineering Services (UES). The company will use the area for the wet testing of three newly-built Seafloor Production Tools from Nautilus Minerals, a Canada registered company who has developed equipment to be used for offshore deep sea mining activities.
Nautilus, the first company to commercially explore for seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) systems, a potential source of high grade copper, gold, zinc and silver, is developing a production system using existing technologies adapted from the offshore oil and gas industry, dredging and mining industries. This will enable the extraction of these high grade SMS systems on a commercial scale.
For Port of Duqm, the agreement is said to be very important, as UES will bring a substantial amount of expertise, and services, in various fields, from which other tenants in the port and companies in the wider Duqm area will benefit. The land that has been leased is strategically positioned in the heart of the port and is close to the port’s logistics zone, drydock and commercial quay.
