About Sonker
Sonker at Glance
Sonker was founded in 2003 as a petroleum storage, handling and bunker supply company operating at Sokhna port along the Suez canal. It is an example of successful private public partnership as it is jointly owned by the Amiral Holdings Group and companies associated with the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance and the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone. Sonker is led by Captain Ossama Al Sharif, the founder of the Amiral Group, that has also pioneered development of Sokhna Port.
In 2006, a concession was awarded to build and operate a tank farm and bulk liquids terminal at Sokhna Port and designate Sonker to be the operator. Through this terminal, Sonker will handle Gasoil and LPG imports and store products for strategic reserves.
The Origin
Sonker was founded in 2003 as a petroleum storage, handling and bunker supply company operating at Sokhna Port along the Suez Canal. It is an example of successful private public partnership as it is jointly owned by the Amiral Holdings Group and companies associated with the Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance and the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone. Sonker is led by Captain Ossama Al Sharif, the founder of the Amiral Group, which has also pioneered development of Sokhna Port.
Having established a solid track record, Amiral Group won a competitive bid for Egypt’s only private port and logistics center at Ain Sokhna, 40km south of Suez, as the cornerstone of the planned Suez Economic Zone, enjoying easy access to domestic and international markets, through the Suez Canal. Its unique single information platform turned it into Egypt’s most successful PPP ventures.
Sokhna Port became Egypt’s most celebrated national project with international acclaim due to its efficiency, cutting-edge technology, automated customs services, electronic data interchange (EDI) and superb security. International investors, such as IFC and AIG were attracted to the port. Handling 25% of Egypt’s volume by 2008, the port was acquired by DPW.
Summary of Operations
The Sonker BLT project involves designing, constructing and operating the Bulk Liquids Terminal in Sokhna port, over an area of 40 hectares for the storage and handling of petroleum products, refrigerated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and chemicals. The infrastructure has been constructed allowing for further extensions primarily in stages to match facilities with increasing demand and according to the highest international safety standards.
Sonker started handling 110,000 m³ of Ammonia storage and exports in 2009. By 2015, it alleviated the country’s severe energy crisis, as it was the only terminal in Egypt capable of berthing the LNG importing facilities of Floating Storage & Regasification Units (FRSU) and their accompanying LNG supply ships, for which operations ran in the period Q2 2015 until October 2018. In 2019 commenced Gasoil operations utilizing 100,000 m3 storage tanks in September 2019 and LPG operations in October 2020 utilizing 150,000 m3 storage tanks, suppling Egypt with these two strategic products via pipelines that are connected to the national grids.
As the Sonker terminal is uniquely positioned and scalable, new opportunities are being developed, supporting the vision of the Egyptian government and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) to continue transforming Egypt as a leading international and regional hub for the energy business.
Phase 1A has seen the addition of 3 Gasoil tanks (total 100,000 m3), 3 LPG tanks (total 150,000 m3), two LPG pipelines (4.3 km each) capable of pumping LPG simultaneously in north and south national grid directions and a new pipeline for Gasoil (31 km) from Sokhna Port to Mina Sadat connecting to refined-products national grid, with two additional tie-ins allowing for increased operational flexibility in north and south direction. Subsequent phases will see expansion of infrastructure and tank capacity to handle additional Gasoil and LPG demand, accommodate other bulk liquids such as mazut and petrochemicals, provide strategic storage to traders and support bunkering and hub operations.
Recognizing Egypt’s growing needs for energy and the competitive advantage of the Sokhna location, Amiral secured a 25-year agreement with the Egyptian government for a Bulk Liquids Terminal, with the potential to become the regional hub for storage, bunkering and logistics services.
