Oman's National Ferries Company logs 93% cargo volume rise in 2017

Muscat: More than 240,000 passengers used the ferries of the National Ferries Company (NFC) in 2017.
The statistical bulletin issued by the NFC indicated that the company carried last year 240,700 passengers, an increase of 9 per cent compared to 220,859 passengers in 2016.
The statistics showed that 62,014 vehicles were carried during the same period compared to 54,078 vehicles in 2016, a growth of 15 per cent.
The cargo volume on the ferry fleet increased by 93 per cent to 29,308 tons from 15,179 tonnes in 2016. The statistics also indicated that the index of the dates of the departures (Discipline Index) in 2017 achieved 92.5 per cent and the reliability of the provided service stood at 94.18 per cent.
The 2017 annual statistics show that the number of passengers in the second half of 2017 rose to 132,072 passengers, accounting for 55 per cent of the total number of passengers in 2017 and 34,038 vehicles, comprising 55 per cent.
The statistical bulletin issued by NFC reported that the Shana-Masirah line maintained its position as the most used line.
The line carried 184,417 passengers, constituting 77 per cent of the total number of passengers, with 51 per cent occupation rate, and carrying 56,299 vehicles, constituting 66 per cent.
The company’s market shares on Shana-Masira line reached 34 per cent of the passengers and 38 percent of the vehicles.
The two ferries (Shana and Masirah Jewel) carried out 2,466 journeys in 2017 compared to 6,525 journeys carried out by the 11 ferries owned by citizens. -ONA