Salalah Port to invest $66m to service mega containerships

BUSINESS REPORTER

MUSCAT, OCT 2

Port of Salalah plans to invest $66 million towards the construction of civil infrastructure necessary to support the installation of special cranes to handle Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) that will begin arriving at the maritime gateway starting from 2025.

The port has also agreed to enter into an agreement with APM Terminals BV for the lease of 10 ULCV cranes and other supporting equipment to enable the handling of a new generation of mega containerships.

Upon the completion of the civil infrastructure work, the cranes will be installed and brought into operation in 2025, the port said in a filing to the Capital Market Authority. The tenure covering the lease of the cranes will commence once they are in operation, it noted.

ULCVs in question are mega sized container ships that are 366 metres long and capable of carrying over 14,500 containers.

Port of Salalah has also approved a related party transaction with Maersk covering a Volume Commitment Agreement with the port. The agreement will enable the development of the Container Terminal to service Ultra Large Container Vessels, it said.

In the first half of this year, the Container Terminal handled around 2.241 million TEUs, up from 4.6 per cent from the figure of 2.142 million TEUs handled during the corresponding period of 2021. The General Cargo Terminal handled about 9 million tonnes of general cargo comprising mainly limestone, gypsum, methanol and cement, up from 8.8 million tonnes in the same period last year. The General Cargo Terminal is also the main driver of the general cargo business at the Port of Salalah.

Also in the first half of this year, Port of Salalah received 3 mobile cranes to enhance general cargo handling capabilities in order to improve the productivity of cargo handling operations at the port.

One of the largest multi-purpose ports in the Middle East, Salalah Port is one of the region’s main transit ports, offering the highest capacity to connect shipping in Oman. In 2021, the container terminal handled 4.5 million TEUs compared to 4.3 million TEUs in 2020, marking the highest rate in its history. (With inputs from ONA)