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Oman's Port of Sohar recorded a 39 percent increase in cargo throughput last year after handling a total of 9.7 million tonnes of cargo in 2009, according to Jan Meijer, Chief Executive Office of Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC).

The surge in cargo throughput is said to be partly due to the considerable savings in bunkers costs that port officials claim can be achieved by vessels calling at Sohar. An increasing number of shipping lines are said to have realized the benefits of transshipping out of Sohar.

By calling at Sohar, which is well outside the Arabian Gulf, a vessel can save two days of sailing time into the Upper Gulf, and a similar amount of time for the return leg. Besides saving on expensive charter rates as a result, there are also considerable savings in bunker fuel costs.

News of the skyrocketing cargo throughput data follows the announcement earlier this week that two new suppliers will be entering the Sohar bunker market after securing licences on January 17th.

Shell Marine Products and a joint venture operation between Matrix Marine Holding GmbH and Oman Oil Marketing Company (Oman Oil) are due to begin making bunker deliveries in June 2010.

The companies will be offering marine fuels of different grades to vessels calling at the Port of Sohar itself or at the extended anchorage area, which is located close to the international shipping route to and from Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman.

Commenting on the port's cargo throughput results, Meijer said "Many ports around the world were affected by the recession, but we have announced an increase of the overall throughput during 2009. Growing volumes of liquid bulk and dry bulk, as well as containers, have contributed to this growth.

"Even though it is very difficult to predict what is going to happen financially in the world, the management of the Port of Sohar anticipate further industrial development at the port, with continuous growth in number of vessels and freight tones as well as containers," he added.