Oman is on the verge of having a large new commercial port, Sur Port Oman.
Located at Sur in eastern Oman, the proposed port will be part of a growing industrial base focused on the LNG plants and Omani India Fertilizer Company.
The feasibility study was delivered to the Oman government (who is a shareholder via Public Establishment of Industrial Estates & Shumookh investment & services Company) . The principal shareholder of Sur Port is Suez Capital, part of Suez Holding which is chaired by Mr. Shiv Shankaran Nair, who has developed businesses especially in the former Soviet states & East Africa often with the financial support of Chinese companies.
The Port of Sur will be a container port and ideally located to export minerals and rocks from eastern Oman, following the completion of the new Copper mine established by Alara Resources . The port may be able to act as a feed for imports destined for Muscat, whose main supplying port is in Suhar which is a straight line 200kms, compared to Sur’s 150km from Muscat. The relative proximity to west India’s Mumbai port and Pakistans Karachi & Gwader ports may prove to be very attractive to potential shipping companies; Gwader will feed directly into China by road. A secondary, but still interesting prospect, would be to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Suez Holding, having confirmed the exclusive “exclusive mandate by the Omani government to design, finance, build and operate the Port of Sur on a concession basis” will raise US$1.5 Billion to complete the first stage of the port. This may be supplied by ‘China Harbor’, who have already been involved in similar projects. Such an involvement will presumably result in China Harbour becoming a shareholder, diluting Suez Capital’s current share of 60%.
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