The port had invested in five Cavotec Moormaster systems in 2016.
The new units will mitigate the impact of the long waves typical during the monsoon season in Salalah and facilitates quicker turnaround and less idling of vessels and berths.
The port also has updated its IT hardware and software infrastructure and expects to roll out Navis N4 planning and operational systems within the last quarter of 2017.
Port of Salalah logged a 29.4 per cent growth in throughput in 2016 compared to 15.3 per cent volume loss the year before.
Recently, the port was ranked was ranked 44th position in the 2017 edition of Lloyd's List's One Hundred Container Ports.
The port has also gained volume from operational consolidation by the world's largest container line Maersk over the past two years. It has managed to grow volumes despite the pullout of some MSC volumes in the second half of 2016.
Salalah Port had witnessed a 5 per cent decline in volumes at the general cargo terminal which handled 6.78 million tonnes of general cargo during the first half of 2017 compared to 7.15 million tonnes in the same period of 2016.
The port's container terminal handled 1.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) during the first half of this year, which is a 1 per cent increase compared to the same period of last year.
Although Salalah continues to be a transhipment terminal, gate volumes have shown growth and have contributed to overall growth in volumes.
The terminal purchased 20 new tractor trailers to improve intra-terminal haulage capacity.
Port of Salalah also invested in a new customs inspection facility, which, it says, almost tripled the capacity of the containers that could be inspected.
Salalah port has profited from being one of the hubs that secured a significant portion of the 2M Alliance calls in the region. It now handles five of this alliance's calls.
Terminal operators APM Terminals handled the 19,462 teu, 2016-built MSC Eloane, which calls Salalah as part of the 2M Alliance.
Salalah has sought to attract discretionary transhipment volumes with productivity improvements, including improved move counts in the same berth window.
CMA CGM introduced two services calling Salalah on a weekly basis in the first half of 2016, which added to its overall volume growth.
Source Link: omantribune.com