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Milaha: Diversity counters adversity

Doha: The extremely diverse set-up at Qatari maritime conglomerate Milaha is seeing it get through the oil price drop. The president and ceo of the company, Khalifa Ali Al-Hetmi says, “The diversity of Milaha’s portfolio has allowed us to mitigate the impact of the changes in the energy market than many of our peers.” He explains that while the decline in the oil market may have some negative impact on the company’s marine offshore services business in the short term, Milaha’s gas and petrochem unit saw its net profit significantly grow on the back of high VLGC and tanker rates.

“At the end of the day, being flexible and customer-focused is what determines your ability to weather downturns such as the one we are seeing now in the energy market,” Al-Hetmi says.

Milaha has investments in container feeders, ports, LNG, LPG and OSVs among others.

The company is currently bidding for the management and operation of Qatar’s new Hamad Port, which Al-Hetmi reckons will reshape the maritime industry in the country and the region. Moreover, Milaha has expanded its offering in the container business with a new direct service to India, and it is looking at a number of other opportunities as well.

“We are also actively looking at various ways to grow our offshore business, both organically and inorganically,” Al-Hetmi concludes.

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