4 March 2021 – Muscat
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has rated Oman’s ports as No. 1 in the world in terms of speed of container handling, as per the UNCTAD annual index 2020.
The index, issued recently about the development of maritime transport last year, asserts that container vessels’ stay in the Sultanate’s ports averaged only 12.5 hours, including all entry, exit, loading and unloading operations, reported Oman News Agency (ONA).
The accomplishment caps the efforts undertaken by Asyad and partners in the public and private sectors to facilitate procedures in ports and introduce many world-class electronic solutions in handling operations. It also comes in implementation of the National Logistics Strategy 2040 aimed to make the Sultanate a global logistics hub, notably by opening new direct maritime routes and forging alliances with international maritime firms to provide direct connection with Omani ports.
The UNCTAD report affirmed that the Sultanate, Poland and the United Arab Emirates are the most competent in handling containers, benefiting from a massive stock of transient goods that engage the three countries’ main stations as active destinations for private international operators.
The report said that the Sultanate also benefited from electronic procedures devised and endorsed prior to the outbreak of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. This includes pre-dated electronic clearance in business operations, electronic processing of cargo data 48 hours in advance and the expansion of electronic services for the exchange of documents and payments.
Asyad Group connects Oman’s ports with regional and international counterparts as a measure to speed up direct import. The Group supports this connectivity with a promotional campaign to encourage direct international liners to utilize the incentives offered by Omani ports.
Asyad puts the capabilities of the Sultanate’s ports at the service of merchants, importers and exporters. It provides all sorts of shipping solutions for the transport of different types of commodities and goods from the country of origin. It also operates an advanced customs clearance system in the Sultanate’s ports to clear 90% of goods within the first hour of arrival of the vessel, while the remaining 20% is cleared onboard the vessels at sea.