Sohar Port and the Strait of Hormuz: Location and What It Means for FOB Buyers

Where is Sohar Port?

Sohar Port is in northern Oman, on the Al Batinah coast facing the Gulf of Oman. Britannica places the city about 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Muscat, linked to it by a paved coastal road. Britannica lists the city as Ṣuḥār.

According to the official SOHAR Port and Freezone website, the port is run by a 50/50 joint venture between Asyad Group and the Port of Rotterdam. The site describes Sohar as a gateway on the Arabian Sea, on Oman’s northern coast. The Port of Rotterdam describes the location as close to the Strait of Hormuz and notes a partnership of about two decades with the government of Oman to develop and operate the port.

Published distances vary. This article uses Britannica for the distance to Muscat. It gives no distance from Sohar to the Strait of Hormuz, because no official or nautical source for that figure was found.

What does the Strait of Hormuz connect?

The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage between the Persian Gulf to the west and the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea to the southeast. Iran lies to the north of the strait, and Oman’s Musandam exclave to the south.

Published widths differ. Britannica gives 55–95 km, while NASA Earth Observatory gives 39–96 km. Britannica puts most of the strait at 60–100 m deep.

Shipping uses two lanes, one inbound and one outbound. Each is about 3 km wide, and a buffer zone of about 3 km separates them. Most of the lanes lie in Omani territorial waters.

Why is the Strait of Hormuz called a shipping chokepoint?

The strait is a chokepoint because every vessel moving between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean must pass through one channel, with traffic lanes about 3 km wide. NASA Earth Observatory describes it as an important chokepoint in the global trade network.

Energy data shows the scale. In its Today in Energy note of 16 June 2025, the US EIA reported that oil flows through the strait averaged about 20 million barrels per day in 2024. That is roughly one fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption and more than a quarter of seaborne oil trade. About one fifth of global LNG trade, mostly from Qatar, also passed through the strait that year.

Those figures describe 2024, not today. Britannica, updated 14 October 2026, records that threats and attacks on ships cut traffic through the strait by more than 95% in March 2026. Regional conditions should be rechecked with official sources when a voyage is planned.

As of 2025, some of the region’s oil could also bypass the strait by pipeline. The EIA (June 2025) listed the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, operated by Saudi Aramco, and a UAE pipeline to Fujairah. Britannica notes that the UAE can divert most of its exports through Fujairah, on the Gulf of Oman.

Why can vessels from Gulf of Oman ports reach the ocean without transiting Hormuz?

Vessels from Gulf of Oman ports do not transit Hormuz because the strait lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. A port on the Gulf of Oman coast is already on the Arabian Sea side of the strait.

Britannica describes the Gulf of Oman as the northwestern arm of the Arabian Sea, between Oman to the southwest and Iran to the north. It is 320 km wide between Ras al-Hadd and Gwadar Bay, and 560 km long. Ports on its shores include Sohar, Muscat and Sur in Oman, and Jask and Chabahar in Iran. The Gulf of Oman is also the only entrance from the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf. Ships bound to or from the Persian Gulf therefore cross the Gulf of Oman as well, but a ship that only loads at a Gulf of Oman port has no need to enter the strait.

This is a point about geography only. Sailing time and security conditions cannot be read from a map. The UAE’s use of Fujairah as an oil bypass rests on the same geography.

A vessel leaving a port inside the Persian Gulf passes through the four bodies of water below, in order. A vessel loading at Sohar starts in the third, so the strait does not lie between the loading port and the Arabian Sea.

1. The Persian Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz.
2. The Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
3. The Gulf of Oman, where Sohar Port sits on the Al Batinah coast.
4. The Arabian Sea, the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean.

What does Sohar’s location mean when buying FOB?

When buying FOB, Sohar’s position outside the Strait of Hormuz matters to the buyer, because the buyer arranges the voyage once the cargo is loaded. The seller delivers the goods on board the vessel nominated by the buyer, at the agreed loading port (FOB, Free On Board).

Risk passes to the buyer once the goods are on board. The agreed loading port is the point of delivery named in the offer. Decisions on the vessel, route and insurance, and the risks attached to them, stay with the buyer. The seller does not choose the route and carries no voyage risk once the goods are on board. The table below sets out who handles what under FOB.

What should buyers still check before nominating a vessel?

Buyers still need to check the voyage plan, the vessel, insurance, sanctions compliance and import requirements. The loading port is only one part of the plan.

The details depend on the vessel chosen and the rules that apply to the buyer, and this list is not legal or insurance advice. Work through the points below with the vessel operator and the insurer.

1. Voyage planning: the route and schedule from Sohar to the destination port, based on current regional information from official sources or the vessel operator.
2. Vessel: whether the ship suits the agreed cargo and packing. For sulphur cargoes, the UK P&I Club guide Carefully to Carry (2023) says the master needs to know which form of sulphur is being loaded.
3. Insurance: ask the insurer whether the route and voyage period are covered, and whether extra conditions apply to the waters on the route.
4. Sanctions and compliance: screening the vessel and route against the sanctions rules that apply to the buyer is the buyer’s own responsibility.
5. Import: Indonesian import permits and duties are arranged by the buyer.

How does this relate to buying sulfur loaded at Sohar Port?

Everything above applies to sulfur bought FOB at Sohar Port: the goods are delivered on board at Sohar, and the buyer arranges the voyage from there. PT Samudra Rayya Nusantara is an industrial commodity trading company for buyers in Indonesia and sells only FOB at the origin port. The first commodity on offer is lump sulfur from Oman, with 99.54% purity. Shipping documents often use the spelling sulphur. The cargo is loaded at Sohar Port in jumbo bags, in volumes of 500–20,000 tonnes per transaction.

The company holds no inventory in Indonesia and does not ship. Goods stay in the origin country until they are loaded onto the buyer’s nominated vessel. Further specifications come with the offer. Samples and meetings are available to buyers with a clear purchase plan.

Product details are on the sulfur page, and the FOB split of responsibilities is set out on the How We Work page. Questions about a purchase can be sent on WhatsApp to 0857 7727 0980 or by email to halo@samudrarayyanusantara.com.