Finishing first phase work ahead of schedule, Hamad Port starts full operations

As full operations at Hamad Port started yesterday, Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani with three ministers toured the port facilities and also took a ride on a driver-less vehicle to be used for intra-facility transportation at the port.
The Prime Minister was also briefed on the various stages of development of the port with the help of a documentary. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti; Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani and other government officials accompanied the Prime Minister.
"Today, we are witnessing a great achievement in the private transport sector's projects. The unlimited support by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani along with the close follow-up by Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani were behind the start of the overall operations of this giant project before the set deadlines and within the allocated budget," the Prime Minister said. He said that the event was an expression of gratitude to Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the founder of Qatar's modern renaissance.
He added: "The New Port Project (NPP) Steering Committee has provided a perfect example by encouraging the contribution of the Qatari private sector to national mega projects where the share of Qatari companies and local market in the contracts for the establishment of the port was nearly 60 percent. This comes in line with the wise leadership of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani according to which the largest share of economic development projects being implemented by the state shall be undertaken by the local sector."
Later addressing a press conference, H E Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti said that the construction work of the first phase of Hamad Port had been completed six months before its stipulated time and with a cost lower than estimated.
Expressing pride in his team, the minister said that the technology being used for various operations of the port was most sophisticated and modern. “These systems have the capacity to inspect as many as 5,600 containers per day which stands among the highest figures of the world ports,” he added.
He said that the port had environmentally friendly systems due to employment of the latest intelligent devices for the operations management, adding, "The port will use driver-less vehicles for the transportation of all employees within the port." He said trial of self-driving car was successful and next year they would import more cars.
The minister said that navigation at Doha Port would stop for commercial vessels and it will continue receiving cruise ships till the announcement of the next date.
To a question, he said that the port charges at Hamad Port will be competitive while the grace period for keeping goods will be longer than that of previous port to encourage and motivate traders to import goods via Hamad port, adding that the prices will be announced shortly.
"The new port will cover all local needs and we will also market the great potential of the Hamad Port to cover the needs of the regional countries,” he added.
"Since it started operating in early April until today, the port has received more than 190 ships," he said, adding that the port’s capacity will reach 2m containers soon and will reach to 7m after the completion of all stages of construction.
He said that as per directives of the Emir, and the guidance of the Prime Minister, the second and third stages of the construction of Hamad Port will be completed by 2020-2021.
“The projects for these phases will be awarded in 2017 with a budgetary allocation amounting to QR2.5bn. The private sector would take 60% of the total value of the project,” the minister added.