Hamad Port is operating “at full capacity” and the only change has been that the Doha-bound ships were transiting through two Omani ports, rather than the Emirati Jebel Ali Port, its director has said.
Abdulaziz Nasser al-Yafei said yesterday that there has not been an increase in traffic since the beginning of the blockade by Saudi Arabia and its allies, according to Al Jazeera.
“The only thing that has happened is that the ships in the past were depending on Jebel Ali Port (in Dubai) as a hub port, but now we are co-operating with our brothers in the Sultanate of Oman, and we thank them, of course, for their generous co-operation with us and the quickness of their action,” he said.
Al-Yafei also said there were plans to increase the port’s capacity, and that they were continuing on schedule.  
Yesterday evening, at least five large ships were docking at Hamad Port, unloading sheep from Australia and food products from Turkey, while there was also a vessel carrying cars made in South Korea. Officials said the port received 212 ships in June and could process 7.5mn containers a year.

Egypt can’t ban Qatari ships: Suez Canal chief
The chief of the Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest water corridors, has said the Egyptian authorities cannot ban Qatari ships from crossing the vital waterway, a report on The New York Times website says, citing AP. Suez Canal chairman Mohab Mamish, a retired navy admiral, said in a statement yesterday that the canal authorities are abiding by the government’s severing of relations with Qatar. However, international treaties prevent them from barring Qatari ships from using the canal as a passage, he added.