Shipping Corp of India opts for Salalah as trans-shipment hub

Muscat: Oman's Port of Salalah has said that Indian state-owned shipping giant, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), India's biggest shipping line, has commenced operations from the port. It said SCI's addition to its list of clients further underscores the maritime gateway's reputation as the regional trans-shipment hub of choice.

SCI is the latest addition to a growing list of prominent main liners that have decided to use Salalah as a hub port in the region. They include Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), APL, CMA-CGM and MOL among others, the statement said.

Commenting on SCI's Salalah operations, Peter Ford, chief executive officer of Port of Salalah, said: ''It's another feather in our cap. Clearly, SCI is a valued customer that connects us to a massive market – India.''

SCI operates a diverse fleet of around 83 ships with an aggregate tonnage of 4.6 million DWT. The Mumbai-headquartered shipping company, wholly owned by the Indian government, has interests in various segments of the shipping trade, including container vessels, bulk carriers, crude oil tankers, product tankers, passenger vessels, chemical carriers, LPG/ammonia carriers and Offshore Supply Vessels.

Port of Salalah now counts some of the world's biggest shipping lines as its clients, including the first, second and fourth ranked global carriers - an accomplishment that attests to the strategic geographic appeal of the trans-shipment hub.

Along with the goal of attracting more shipping lines and cargo volumes to the trans-shipment hub, the port management is also keenly focused on promoting Salalah as a manufacturing and distribution base. The objective, says Ford, is to encourage investors to capitalise on Salalah's excellent connectivity and access to regional and global markets, thereby contributing to local employment generation and socio-economic development, and inevitably, more domestic cargo business for Port of Salalah.