Port of Salalah climbs productivity ladder

Oman’s Port of Salalah has enhanced its berth productivity levels becoming ranked as the 15th port on global level, thus matching top container ports in the world, according to the independent research firm Journal of Commerce (JOC) which has produced the 2013 Port Productivity report for the second year running.

Based on the 2013 average container moves per ship, JOC has also ranked Port of Salalah third in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, having achieved an average of 91 gross moves per hour (gmph), a 26% increase over the 2012 average of 71 gmph.

“Our employees have been working hard at improving teamwork and internal processes at the port, and the benefits are shared by our customers as well,” said Ahmed Akaak, Deputy CEO at the Port of Salalah, adding, “for example, we have reduced waiting times at the gate from over 70 minutes to less than 30 minutes, and moreover an astonishing reduction in breakdowns and downtimes, and overall improved levels of work satisfaction and teamwork.”

With its state of the art container terminal facility, the Port of Salalah, managed by APM Terminals, is the country’s leading terminal for direct sailing connections to USEC, Europe, Far East and East Africa, handling between three million and four million containers annually over the past seven years.

The 2013 JOC Productivity Ranking names 11 facilities within the APM Terminals’ Global Terminal Network as world leaders, including APM Terminals Yokohama, which tied with Tianjin Xingang Sinor Terminal in the race for the first place with 163 gmph.

The JOC study used data from over 150,000 port calls during 2013, evaluating the individual performances of 443 ports and 771 terminals.

According to the JOC, “Gross moves per hour for a single vessel call is defined as the total container moves (onload, offload and repositioning) divided by the number of hours for which the vessel is at berth.”