Milaha’s container shipping operations double in two years

Qatar Navigation (Milaha), one of the leading maritime and logistics conglomerates in the region, has announced that its container shipping business has more than doubled within a short span of time.

The remarkable growth achieved, both in terms of the number of vessels as well as the volume of containers handled, got accelerated over the last couple of years, especially after the blockade imposed on Qatar by the Arab quartet, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which were previously the two major destinations from Qatari imports.

“Given the rising demand for our services, we have been increasing our fleet steadily with the total number of vessels increasing over 100 units which are operating across multiple sectors.

Out of that, some 15 ships are dedicated to container shipping service, which has more than doubled compared to seven vessels used for the same purpose just about 2-3 years ago,” Abdulrahman Al Mannai, President and CEO of Milaha told The Peninsula.

Al Mannai added: “With the opening of the new port (Hamad Port), we are also using bigger vessels for container shipping as the scale of our operations has expanded significantly.” He noted that over the last one year and a-half, Milaha has opened many new shipping lines serving a lot of new markets.

The company has also introduced feeder line services in many regions, including one between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which are not directly related to Qatar business but an expansion of its operations that serve the Middle East and many other regions.

“It has been a steady growth for us. We are also studying some destinations and looking for opportunities to open new shipping lines and other services,” he said.

Asked about Milaha’s plans to acquire more vessels, especially when Qatar is set to boost its gas production by about 40 percent compared to the existing 77mtpa, Al Mannai added that the company has enough dedicated ships for transporting energy products (including oil, LNG and LPG).

“We have a much diversified businesses within the shipping industry. So we always look in the market for opportunities to acquire, lease or charter vessels, which depends on the requirement and demand from our customers.”

He also noted that as Hamad Port has reached new records and milestones in terms of operational efficiency, capacity and the volume of containers handled, with 28 percent share in the volume of trade in the Middle East.

Milaha, as an integrated maritime and logistics conglomerate, with a wide-chain of operations facilities, is well positioned to provide high quality services to the fast growing market.

“As there is more requirement and surge in the demand for our services, we are working to provide more customised solutions by deploying new technology and upgrading the exiting services,” he said.

He also noted that Milaha has recently inaugurated its state-of-the-art logistics city in Qatar which is spread across an area of 4,23,000sqm. The first phase of the project is primarily focusing on cold-chains, which is part of the comprehensive supply-chain services.

“The Milaha Logistics City is the first-of-its-kind project in Qatar offering a wide range of customised services. We are layering technology on top of that, and I believe all those will add more value to our customers, said Al Mannai, adding that the fast growing infrastructure development and other projects in the country is offering new opportunities for all companies, including Milaha and its subsidiaries, which are expanding and growing fast.

In early May this year, Milaha also launched a direct container feeder service between Hamad Port and Iraq’s Umm Qasr Port. The new service was an expansion of the existing Qatar-Kuwait service that the company had launched last year.

In addition, in early July last year, Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) in cooperation with its partners, including Milaha, inaugurated five new direct service lines between Hamad Port and a number of ports in the region and beyond, including India’s Mundra port and Nhava Sheva port within days after the inauguration of the world-class port.
Source: The Peninsula