Muscat: The Middle East is one of the most exciting places for liner shipping these days. A recent report by Lloyd’s Register suggests that in the coming 13 years the region will more than double its global share of container shipping capacity. One person clearly enjoying the boom is Peter Ford, the ceo of the fast growing Port of Salalah in Oman.
Salalah is managed by APM Terminals, a company Ford has been working with for the past 17 years.
“We expect growth in the liner business,” Ford says of 2013 prospects.
New services connecting Salalah to Pakistan and Yemen in 2013 will help boost volumes, while local growth is coming from companies like US Gypsum and DHL starting their operations in the port’s free zone.
“The rapid growth markets of Africa, India, and southern Gulf have really buoyed our market,” Ford says.
The port is also seeing bulk cargo growth. Three major mining companies are starting their operations this year and by the end of next year Ford expects to see the bulk mineral sector almost double.
Meanwhile, a new bulk liquid terminal will be completed this year and will almost triple capacity in that sector.
In 2012 the port worked with Oman Air and the airport to develop a sea/air product that was proven to reduce the overall transit time into Frankfurt by 48 hours and $0.50 per kg over the next best competitor port and airline pair. Recently, the port has been working with the Omani government to ensure they capitalize on the amazing opportunity the GCC rail network will provide to Oman.
Salalah is Oman's largest port. It is made up of a container terminal with seven berths of up to 18 m draft and a general cargo terminal of 12 berths of up to 16 m draft. Salalah has risen to a rank amongst the world’s top 30 container ports and has broken the world record for productivity twice. Last year Salalah reached a significant milestone marking its 30 millionth container handled at the port in its 14 years of operations. [07/05/13]
