Around 200 trucks carrying food from Turkey roll into Ruwais Port

When four neighbouring nations declared an illegal siege on the country by blockading its land, air and water routes, Qatar decided to stand up and be counted.

One of the first things the country’s leadership did was to ensure a steady supply of food products to the country, mostly from Iran and Turkey. 

While the supply of food was kept constant, it also entailed some huge cost to it, which the government was absorbing. However, they had also been looking at options to transport food across land. That effort has paid off and about 200 trucks laden with food reached Ruwais Port yesterday, reported Gulf Times.   

The trucks arrived by road from Turkey to Port of Bushehr in Iran and then by sea to Ruwais Port. The trucks were shipped in roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels.

The land trade route through Turkey, Iran and Qatar is expected to significantly reduce the cost of transportation of goods. The new trade line will lead to a decline of nearly 80 % in the transportation cost of food items compared to air freight charges, according to The Peninsula.

This route is a significant step in tackling the illegal blockade as less transportation time means perishable goods can be transported quickly without damage.

While the cost of air freight ranges between $1.2 and $1.5 per kg, the cost of road transport per kg is approximately $0.15.

The sea route between Turkey and Qatar initially took 11 days, while the land route took 14 days. And recent experiments have reduced this duration to nine days.

The newly propounded commercial land transport line, from Turkey’s Mardin city to Iran’s Bushehr port, will further shorten the duration to just two or three days.

The distance between Mardin city and the Bushehr port is about 1,700km, which can be covered by trucks in about 22hrs. The Bushehr and Hamad Ports are not very far and can be covered in just eight hours. So a truck with Turkish goods can reach to Doha through this route in less than two days.

Picture Courtesy: The Peninsula