Muscat – A total of 167 navigation licences were issued to foreign ships in the first six months of 2022 to ply in Omani territorial waters, according to the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT).

A statement issued by MTCIT said, ‘The number of navigation licences issued by the ministry to foreign ships in the first six months of 2022 increased 36 per cent compared to the same period in 2021.’

Licences were issued to tugs, oil tankers, yachts, cruise ships, landing ships, service ships and excavators.

Additionally, the ministry provided 1,685 services, including issuing 209 new marine unit registration certificates and 859 marine unit renewal certificates.

The ministry also issued 395 certificates and documents, and 224 certificates related to marine activities, during the first half of 2022 – an increase of 96 per cent compared to the same period last year.

It inspected 135 ships and their data entered into the database as per the Riyadh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Indian Ocean MoU for the control and inspection of ships during H1 2022.

The ministry also registered 24 violations against shipping vessels.