Qatar offers cash to liners who give the UAE a miss

Qatar is looking to undermine throughput at nearby ports, using its financial muscle to lure liners in its ongoing spat with its neighbours.

QTerminals has announced that it will offer incentives to boxlines that have direct services calling at Hamad Port, Qatar’s three-year old principle boxport. Importantly the incentives only kick in on services that do not tranship within a range of 250 nautical miles from Doha.

QTerminals is a terminal operating entity jointly established by Mwani Qatar, which owns 51% of the company, and Milaha, which owns the remaining 49%.

Arab neighbours including the UAE and Saudi Arabia have dropped all diplomatic and trading ties with Qatar since June 2017, leading Qatari transport companies to seek a far greater global footprint.