Oman’s Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad) recently revealed that it has decided to increase the depth of the fishing harbour to10 m instead of 6 m in order to prepare the port to attract large fishing vessels operating on high seas, said a report.

This will in turn increase the economic value of the port, which will become the first port in the sultanate to reach that depth, added the Oman News Agency (ONA) report.

Yahya bin Saeed Al Jabri, chairman of Sezad, said that the decision comes in line with the development of commercial fishing in the world, and added that the depth of the harbour is in line with the requirements of this sector as there are ships equipped for fishing purposes or for the purpose of exporting fish, which need a basin deeper than 6 m, hence the idea is to increase the basin depth to 10 m.

He added that the Duqm zone is working to make Duqm fishing harbour one of the regional ports capable of providing various services needed by large fishing vessels and thus contributing to enhancing the performance of fisheries industries near the harbour, which aims to make Duqm a key centre for fish industry in the sultanate.

The work on the fishing harbour is currently progressing and the more than 500 employees are working at the site.

The harbour will be ready by the end of next year or the beginning of 2021, added the report.