Oman to expand its high-speed ferry service

FERRY PLANS: Two new services are proposed to be launched in Oman during the second half of this year. (Getty Images - for illustrative purposes only)

Oman will expand its high-speed ferry service later this year, according to the Oman Daily Observer newspaper. The service which currently links Muscat with the Musandam Peninsula, will be expanded to serve islands and remote population centres along the country's eastern and southern areas.

According to officials of the state-owned National Ferries Company SAOC (NFC), which manages the high-speed ferry service, two new services are proposed to be launched during the second half of this year.

One will link the Hallaniyat Islands off the southern coast with Hasik and Shuwaymiyah in Dhofar Governorate. The other will ply between Shannah with Masirah Island off the eastern seaboard, the daily informed.

For these purposes, the NFC has ordered three new high-speed diesel powered ferries from an Italian shipyard, to be delivered during the latter half of 2009.

Fadhila Al Khalasi, NFC Marketing Officer told the Omani daily: "We expect to receive the first vessel by July end, followed by the second craft by September-end, and the third vessel by December-end. Two of them will be deployed on the Hasik-Hallaniyat-Shuwaymiyah route, while the other will operate between Shannah and Masirah."

Expanding theferry service has been a long-held objective of the Omani government to introduce and develop a coastal maritime transportation system linking Muscat and other key coastal cities with remote and far-flung communities along Oman's lengthy coastline, the newspaper said.

Last year, the Omani government launched of a ferry service between Muscat and Khasab in Musandam Governorate. Two Australian-built catamaran-style high speed ferries were deployed on this sector.

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