Oman's Port of Salalah Adapts to Red Sea Disruption

 

Oman’s Port of Salalah has reported recovery in cargo traffic after a significant decline in container throughput earlier this year. This was primarily attributable to the ongoing Red Sea crisis, forcing vessels to reroute around Africa. The port’s container traffic dropped to 878,000 TEUs during Q1 2024 compared to 1.056 million recorded during the same quarter in 2023, representing a 17 percent decline.

However, in a recent interview with the local media, the CEO of Salalah Port Services Mohammed Al-Mashani said the port’s cargo throughput is improving. During the first half, the Port of Salalah handled 1.7 million TEU and 11.6 million tons of general cargo. Al- Mashani added that the port is preparing for an expanded transshipment market, based on its strategic location on the main east-west shipping routes. The port is rolling out a $300 million expansion plan, which will see the annual container handling capacity increase from 5 million to 6 million TEU. The expansion also includes addition of six fully electric ship-to-shore cranes, bringing the total number from 21 to 27 by the end of the year.

“We are fostering connections with major international shipping lines as well as expanding our transshipment market, which links the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa,” commented Al-Mashani.

With growing demand for international trade in the East African market, Salalah is well positioned as the transshipment port for this region. It offers up to five days’ shorter transit times between Southeast Asia and countries in East Africa including Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and Ethiopia.

In addition, the port introduced a multi-modal service option for shipping lines that wanted to avoid the time consuming and costly re-routing around the Cape of Good Hope. The option includes moving the cargo from the Port of Salalah through an overland route by truck, connect to Jeddah located in the safer mid-point of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. This overland route takes 4-5 days. From Jeddah, the cargo can continue by container vessel through Suez Canal to Europe or the US East Coast.