The world’s largest shipping company said it will be using Salalah Port in Oman as a transhipment hub, with the first direct feeder service to Doha scheduled to depart on June 19th.
The frequency of dispatches will be ten days and the service will be prioritised for those Qatari cargoes booked before the introduction of sanctions against Qatar.
Maersk and other shipping lines found themselves unable to get cargo into Qatar via the Middle East’s primary feeder gateway Jebel Ali Port after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last week imposed sanctions on Qatar in a major regional diplomatic dispute.
Qatar is building a new port complex in the Hamad port to be able to directly accept large container ships by 2020. In the meantime, most of the cargo is delivered to Qatar either by land transport from the ports of Saudi Arabia or by feeder vessels.
Only two mainliner services call at Doha Port, both of which have had the Doha rotation suspended as they call in Jebel Ali Port as well. DP World, the operator of Jebel Ali Port, has said that in line with UAE government directives, the port is closed to all Qatar traffic and any vessel coming from or going to Qatar.
Ships carrying any Qatar-bound cargo will also be barred entry to Jebel Ali Port.
http://www.arabiansupplychain.com/article-13291-maersk-line-reroutes-qatar-cargo-through-salalah/