Middle East Business

A Qatari logistics group completes one of Oman's first frozen bulk vessel operations and takes a long-term cold storage contract

By Staff Writer  |  7 September 2026

Gulf Warehousing Company says a first frozen bulk vessel discharged in Oman led to a second, larger vessel, a long-term cold storage contract from the same customer, and more than 1,000 truckloads of frozen cargo moved by road from Barka to Qatar and Kuwait.

Gulf Warehousing Company, the Qatar-listed logistics group that trades as GWC Group, has completed one of the first frozen bulk vessel operations in the Sultanate of Oman. The group announced the operation on 29 August 2026 and on 2 September 2026 set out what it means for supply into Qatar. It describes the work as extending its cold chain from vessel handling and temperature-controlled storage to cross-border distribution, and as creating an additional route for frozen cargo into Qatar.

Frozen goods entering Oman normally arrive in standard containers. A full frozen bulk vessel is a different task, because the cargo has to be kept at temperature from the moment it leaves the hold, through the port, into cold storage and then onto the road. The group says it maintained uninterrupted temperature integrity from port to warehouse across every phase.

One vessel became a contract

Delivery of the first operation earned the group a second and larger commission, which it describes as the largest frozen bulk vessel operation it has handled to date. The same customer then awarded a long-term cold storage contract, taking the relationship from vessel handling into ongoing storage and regional distribution.

The group has also begun carrying frozen poultry products by road from Barka in Oman to Qatar and Kuwait. It puts the combined volume handled, stored and distributed across GCC markets at more than 1,000 truckloads.

This operation demonstrates what our regional network is designed to do. By connecting our capabilities in Oman with our established infrastructure in Qatar, we are creating additional routes for temperature-sensitive goods into the country whilst strengthening resilience across the wider supply chain. As we grow across the GCC, our operations are increasingly working as one network, connecting markets and strengthening the infrastructure behind regional cold chain flows.

Matthew Kearns, Group Chief Executive Officer of GWC Group

The scale behind it

The group says the net revenue contribution from its international operations has tripled over the past two years, as it builds out its presence across Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. It describes a network reaching more than 120 countries through more than 550 freight partners, more than four million square metres of logistics infrastructure, more than 1,600 specialised vehicles, 20 locations across the GCC and more than two million tonnes of freight moved a year.

For anyone building or fitting out cold storage in the region, the sequence matters more than the headline. A single vessel call became a second vessel, then a storage contract, then a road distribution flow into two further countries. The capacity that made the first call possible, meaning the reefer plugs, the blast and holding stores and the trained handlers, was in place before the customer arrived. Cold chain work rewards the operator that has already built for it.

What has not been stated

The group has not named the customer, the Omani port at which the vessels were discharged, the tonnage of either vessel, or the value or term of the cold storage contract. It has not said which cold store holds the cargo or whether new capacity was built for the contract. The road route from Barka to Qatar and Kuwait is stated only as a road movement, and the group has not said how the cargo is cleared at borders along the way. None of those points can be filled in from the announcements, so they are left open here.