The Port of Duqm, also known as Duqm Port, is a

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

and road terminal located at

Duqm Duqm () is a port town on the coastal strip of the Arabian Sea open to the Indian Ocean. It is about 550 km from Muscat. As of 2017, the population was approximately 12,000. History Duqm was a small fishing settlement on the coast of souther ...

in the Al Wusta governorate of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. Duqm Port, integrated in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), and located south of capital

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

, is equipped with a ship repair yard and

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

facility. Overlooking the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, the Port of Duqm is a joint-venture between ASYAD Ports and Consortium Antwerp Port. Although operating since 2012, it was not officially opened until 4 February 2022 by Mr.

Asa'ad bin Tariq Al Said Sayyid Asa'ad bin Tariq Al Said (; born 20 June 1954) is a member of the Omani royal family and the Deputy Prime Minister for Relations and International Cooperation Affairs. Early life Asa'ad is the son of Sayyid Tariq bin Taimur bin Fais ...

, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Personal Representative of His Majesty the Sultan of Oman. The Port of Duqm has a total area of , and includes land for industry, an oil storage terminal, commercial and government berths, a dry dock, and associated logistical lands. It is protected by a main

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

and a secondary one; the height of the main breakwater is above sea level and more than on average to the sea floor, and is in length. The length of the secondary breakwater is . Its commercial berth has four stations, including two container terminals with a length of about and an annual capacity to handle about 3.5 million standard containers, a terminal for dry bulk materials with an annual capacity of about , and a multi-use terminal with an annual capacity of about and a

Ro-Ro Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

capacity of 200,000 cars per annum.

International agreements

In August

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, the

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(UK)

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a m ...

jointly established the

UK Joint Logistics Support Base The United Kingdom Joint Logistics Support Base (UKJLSB) is a military base located within the Al Duqm Port and Drydock of Duqm in the Al Wusta governorate of Oman. As a British overseas military base, it is used to facilitate the deploymen ...

(UKJLSB) at Duqm Port. The port has sufficient space and depth to berth the Royal Navy's latest

Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier The ''Queen Elizabeth''-class aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy consists of two vessels. The lead ship of her class, , was named on 4 July 2014 in honour of Elizabeth I and was ship commissioning, commissioned on 7 December ...

s. In 2018, the port was used for Exercise Saif Sareea 3 (Exercise Swift Sword 3), a 10-day long, bilateral tri-service

military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...

. Also in 2018, the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

announced that it would use Duqm Port for maintenance of Indian military vessels. In March

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, the United States (U.S.) embassy announced an agreement for USA access to the ports at

Salalah Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani Governorates of Oman, governorate of Dhofar Governorate, Dhofar. It has a population close to 331,949. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest ...

and Duqm. In September

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, the UK Defence Secretary announced a plan to triple the size of its

at the Omani port, with a further £23.8 million investment.

Dry dock

The

complex, originally known as Oman Drydock Company, now known as Asyad Drydock, includes ship repair and maintenance facilities. It was opened a year before the main port in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, the yard completed the build of its first ship, an Omani-owned logistics support ship.

References

External links

Port of Duqm
— at ASYAD.om {{DEFAULTSORT:Duqm Port Transport in Oman Ports and harbours of Oman 2012 establishments in Oman Duqm

International agreements

Dry dock

See also

References

External links