*PM attends launch of port's second expansion project
The second phase of Al Ruwais Port's expansion project was launched on Thursday in the presence of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The project will further increase capacity and boost the economic activity in the northern part of Qatar.
The event was attended by HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti and Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) CEO Captain Abdulla al-Khanji and other officials.
Sheikh Abdullah, who was briefed on the port’s progress, as well as development plans, harbours and berths at Al Thakhira, Al Khor and Al Wakrah ports, also toured the different areas of the maritime commercial facility at Al Ruwais.
Speaking at a press briefing after the tour, al-Sulaiti, who is also the chairman of Mwani Qatar, explained that the Al Ruwais Port will have 165,000sq m of storage space once the project is completed.
“With this expansion we hope to receive more than 60,000 containers annually, which will give us a lot of margin to do more things,” the minister noted.
“Now we are getting 20,000 containers. We are happy with this volume because when we started it was only between 500 and 1,000,” al-Sulaiti said.
“It means that Al Ruwais Port is not a domestic port (anymore), it is now becoming an international port.”
He expects the port to receive between 40,000 and 60,000 containers in one-two years’ time, but can accommodate around 100,000 containers at full capacity.
Al-Sulaiti cited the increasing number of vessels, trade volume, and other operations at the port, which significantly contributed to Qatar’s economic development.
Since launching its first phase of expansion in January 2015, al-Sulait said that Al Ruwais Port substantially helped in meeting “the increasing needs of the domestic market of food and fresh produce, among others, in addition to the different projects in Al Shamal, being implemented by the State," the Qatar News Agency has reported.
The minister also highlighted the Al Ruwais Port Market’s achievement in supplying residents with an array of goods and products, brought by vessels which visit the port daily.
According to QNA, part of the port’s expansion which will benefit many fishermen includes adding 300 berths at the traditional fishing port, expected to be completed by 2020.
The launch of this project paved the way for Al Ruwais Port to become an economic zone “with integrated storage areas and a market for the supply of goods – a pillar of the macro economy,” al-Sulaiti said.
The third phase of the port’s expansion, he said, is scheduled to be completed in 18 months, and “aimed at deepening its navigational channel, which helps in receiving vessels with larger cargo.”
The minister added that providing “integrated inspection platforms,” which extend behind the port market and cover main gates for entrances and exits, made the Al Ruwais Port more global than domestic.