By Sachin Kumar
DOHA: Flooding of port basin of the Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at the New Port Project in Mesaieed took place yesterday in presence of Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Seif Al Sulaiti and Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.
The basin of economic zone is 1.6km long, 500 metres wide and 10 metre deep, in addition to a 150 metre-wide entrance canal. The quay of the basin is around 4,000 metres long. Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Boskalis Westminster Middle East started working on the project in the third quarter of 2013 at a cost of QR1.3bn. “Flooding of canal of Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone is very important stage on the project, which will contribute to facilitating maritime industry activities at that zone,” said Jassim bin Seif Al Sulaiti, who is also the Chairman of the Hamad Port Project Steering Committee.
The port basin at the Umm Al Houl SEZ was developed at the north of the Hamad Port as part of the Economic Zones Company (Manateq). The Umm Al Houl SEZ will provide additional marine facilities to Hamad Port. “The wise leadership and comprehensive vision of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the close follow-up by Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani are the main reasons for delivering this project ahead of schedule, at a cost below the initial estimations,” he added.
The Minister stressed that economic zone projects will contribute to ushering in new levels of economic diversification and boosting the growth of the private sector and SMEs.
“The Ministry of Transport and Communications works in full swing to provide an integrated plan based on multimodal transportation system, which, in turn, would stimulate internal and external trade and smooth people and cargo transportation,” the Minister added.
The flooding ceremony was attended by a number of officials from the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the Qatar Ports Management (Mawani Qatar) and Manateq. There are 9,811 concrete blocks in the basin quay wall while 230,000 cubic metre of concrete were used to make those blocks. The number of concrete blocks installed in a single day reached 143.
The quayside has 300, 30-tonne-capacity Bollard berths and 22, 50-tonne-capacity Bollard berths. The quay has 816 fenders in different sizes and 163 gangways. Around 830,000 cubic metre of rocks are used at the northern and southern breakwater. Dredging operations were 6.5 kilometre in length, 150 metre in width and 7.5 metre deep under sea level. Located near Hamad Port south of Al Wakra City, Umm Al Houl Special Economic Zone will be dedicated for supporting light industries including petrochemicals, building materials, metals, food processing, auto and machinery industries, supply and equipment services, in addition to some other unique services for several sectors including the logistics sector.
Supply and equipment areas alongside the coast have been dedicated to supporting the Hamad Port Project and maritime industries sector by providing support for a wide range of maritime industries such as medium-size ship building and maintenance, brigantines, recreational boats, maritime platforms, drilling and dredging equipment as well as fueling, storage and distribution stations.
The Peninsula
