United Kingdom Use of Salalah Port, Sultanate of Oman for the Movements of Military Explosives

摘要

We in the UK have a requirement to conduct training in hot climates; such training cannot be carried out in the UK, we do not have the climatic conditions that would enable it. (Although the sun shines, it rarely gets above 30-deg C). Consequently we use overseas locations. The UK has a long history with Oman; having supported the current Sultan during the Dhofar troubles on the late 60's-early 70's. The UK MOD has been using the Sultanate of Oman for RAF Flying Training for a number of years, operating from Thumrait air base. The location presents good climatic conditions to support hot weather flying; additionally there are large range areas, which cannot be found in UK, for the use of aircraft weapons instead of practice ammunition. We country also provides good opportunities for SF training. There is one RAF exercise annually in Oman, with the explosives required provided by UK imported through the port of Salalah, at Raysut, in the South. To move large quantities of ammunition and explosives to Oman, cost effectively, requires sealift. This inevitably means that we need to discharge the explosives cargo at Raysut, a civilian commercial port, in order for it to reach its destination. There is no explosive licensing scheme in place at Raysut. We are faced with the prospect of positioning quantities of explosives at a location that is not under military control and not experienced at handling military explosives.