Port of Duqm welcomes UK’s HMS Albion

Duqm port is capable of handling anything, even some of the world’s largest sea-vessels.

This came after HMS Albion, one of the UK Navy’s two “giant” amphibious assault ships, arrived in Port Duqm. A Ministry of Transport and Communication statement said that the vessel’s arrival in Port Duqm “confirms the port’s capability to receive the largest vessels”.

A statement by the Royal Navy last week read, “Britain’s flagship HMS Albion has arrived in Oman ready to lead the naval element of the largest combined military exercise for UK forces since 2002.”

Commodore James Parkin, Commander of the Amphibious task group, said, “HMS Albion represents the very best of the British Armed Forces – able to deploy globally, crammed to the gunwales with modern weapons and sensors, and capable of putting a potent landing force of commandos from sea onto land.”

The statement by the Royal Navy added, “It will also be the most demanding test yet of Britain’s new Joint Logistics Support Base at Duqm, a new port roughly halfway between Oman’s capital, Muscat, and Salalah.” Among the vessel’s vehicles are Vikings, amphibious vehicles that can provide protected mobility for troops.