MUSCAT: A recent study released by the US-based JOC Group, which includes the Journal of Commerce, and the PIERs data service, has declared the port of Salalah as the sixth top trans-shipment port globally and 18th top port globally. According to the study, the port has also been successful in bagging a number of high positions in various categories in the Europe/Middle East/Africa geographic class.
The report on port productivity states that in the Europe/Middle East/Africa geography, the Port of Salalah has been ranked third top port and seventh among top container terminals, placing the Sultanate of Oman next to the United Arab Emirates and underlining Salalah’s regional position among the busiest and most influential ports of trade.
“It’s important for all of our employees, customers, government partners and stakeholders to see tangible results and evidence that Port of Salalah is a world-class port that invests in its people, productivity and especially service. We are expressly proud of our employees, particularly those operating the machinery at the terminals and those who have grown with the port since its inception 15 years ago, and who have gone the extra mile to improve safety, customer service and efficiency,” said Ahmed Akaak, acting-CEO of Port of Salalah.
Two years back, the Port of Salalah launched a company-wide Process Excellence (PEX) culture. This has tracked and improved productivity measurements around machinery and operation turnaround and has led to upgrades in productivity and efficiency.
Berth and crane productivity have increased their performance by double digits this year, while truck and gate turnaround times have been slashed in half, among other positive developments. Also, earlier this year the Port of Salalah has commenced container terminal gate procedures on Fridays at no additional cost to customers in order to improve services for local businesses.
Despite these successes, the Port has always been busy owing to its strategic location aside the major Asia-Europe shipping trade lane and equidistant to the fast growth markets of Eastern Africa, Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Gulf and its foundation as a joint-venture investment between the Government of Oman and APM Terminals, one of the world’s leading port operating groups.
The JOC study also featured a number of APM Terminals ports rankings in leading positions, including APM Terminals Yokohama (Japan) which held the number one position globally in productivity at 150 moves per hour (mph) while handling 875,000 TEUs in 2012. In comparison, the Port of Salalah achieved a productivity of 72 mph while handling 3.62 million TEUs in 2012.
APM Terminals Rotterdam, one of the busiest terminals in Europe, handling 2.5 million TEUs in 2012, ranked 14th globally with 92 mph and first in the Europe/Middle East/Africa top terminals category. APM Terminals Mumbai, India’s busiest container terminal in 2012 with 1.96 million TEUs handled, ranked 6th globally overall, while in the Americas geographic region, APM Terminals Port Elizabeth, ranked second with 82 mph having terminal handled 1.1 million TEUs in 2012.
In the attempt to finalize the findings of the report, the JOC Group spent over five years collecting and analysing new data from 600 terminals at 400 ports and 17 global shipping lines.
