Qatar's maritime sector witnessed robust performance this August, registering a double-digit monthly growth in number of ships calling on Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports, according to the official data.
The number of ships calling on Qatar's three ports stood at 267 in August 2022, which saw a 10.79% increase compared to July 2022. However, it was 3.26% lower on an annualised basis.
As many as 1,900 ships had called on three ports during the first six eight months of this year.
Hamad Port – whose strategic geographical location offers opportunities to create cargo movement towards the upper Gulf, supporting countries such as Kuwait and Iraq and south towards Oman – saw as many as 124 vessels call on the port in the review period.
The general cargo handled through the three ports was 100,866 tonnes in August 2022, which showed a stupendous 54.77% jump month-on-month in the review period. However, it fell 32.07% year-on-year, said the figures released by Mwani Qatar.
Hamad Port – whose multi-use terminal is designed to serve the supply chains for the RORO, grains and livestock – handled 91,146 freight tonnes of breakbulk in July this year.
On a cumulative basis, the general cargo movement through the three ports totalled 1.02mn tonnes during January-August this year.
The three ports handled 8,249 vehicles (RORO) in August 2022, which registered a 14.9% and 20.53% increase on an annualised and monthly basis respectively. Hamad Port alone handled 8,218 units in August this year.
The three ports together handled as many as 53,491 vehicles during January-July 2022.
The container handling through three ports stood at 121,873 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), which showed a 3.88% increase on a monthly basis but declined 2.94% year-on-year in August 2022.
Hamad Port, which is the largest eco-friendly project in the region and internationally recognised as one of the largest green ports in the world, saw 118,107 TEUs of containers handled this August.
The container handling through the three ports stood at 938,108 TEUs during January-August this year.
The container terminals have been designed to address the increasing trade volume, enhancing ease of doing business as well as supporting the achievement of economic diversification, which is one of the most important goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Strategic Food Security Facilities’ terminal at Hamad Port received the first vessel loaded with two LHM 280 mobile harbour cranes and their accessories earlier in August, after German firm Liebherr completed their manufacture.
The building materials traffic through the three ports amounted to 35,813 tonnes in August this year, which shot up 25.07% month-on-month even as it declined 15.77% on an annualised basis.
A total of 325,196 tonnes of building materials had been handled by these ports in the first eight months of 2022.
The three ports had handled 6,922 livestock in August 2022, which showed 52.68% decrease on a monthly basis but grew 53.86% increase year-on-year. The ports had handled a total 120,817 heads during January-August this year.
Doha Port is boosting efforts to transform the country into an attractive regional tourist destination serving global cruise ships as well as providing the facilities needed for the economic diversification being pursued by Qatar National Vision 2030.
"Qatar’s maritime sector is expected to witness another year of strong growth in light of the efforts taken by the concerned authorities to boost goods traffic at the ports, with expectations of supply chains improving during the next few periods," Mwani Qatar had said in its latest annual report.