Oman International Container Terminal (OICT) received the first call of the Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), the world’s second largest container shipper with over 2.7m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, Lana vessel at the Port of Sohar.
Officials from Sohar Port and Freezone, as well as executives from Oman International Container Terminal (OICT), part of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Group, were quayside to greet MSC Lana.
This latest addition highlights once again that Sohar is establishing itself as the preferred gateway to the Gulf for many major international operators, the port and freezone said in a statement.
MSC Lana is one of the older vessels in MSC’s fleet. Built in 1999, the container ship has a capacity of 1,830-TEU, but officials at Sohar Port & Freezone expect MSC to begin calling with larger tonnage in the near future.
Thanks to its prime location outside the Strait of Hormuz and its excellent hinterland connections to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as its proximity to Iran, Sohar Port has become one of the world’s fastest growing port and free zone developments with investments totalling US$25bn.
The vessel is a regional service of the Mediterranean Shipping Company and arrived at the Oman International Container Terminal quay in the morning. It can carry 3660 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) and has a length of 218 metres.
Founded in 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland, MSC operates 200 direct and combined services weekly, calling at approximately 335 ports. MSC has 480 offices in 150 countries and employs more than 25,000 staff.