<span id="docs-internal-guid-f2219538-7fff-8d00-e34f-912eeb3cab27"></span> <p dir="ltr"><span>The Times of Oman has reported that the Board of Salalah Port Services Company (SPS) has approved an investment of US$66M in infrastructure to support 10 new STS cranes at SPS in Oman.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span> </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>APM Terminals holds a 30% stake in SPS and has a 30-year concession to operate the terminal until 2028. That would not normally leave enough ‘runway’ for an international terminal operator to purchase 10 new STS cranes, which would cost over $100M, at this point in the concession.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span> </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>It appears from the Times of Oman’s reporting that an extension to the concession, backed by a volume commitment from Maersk AS, has been negotiated and is awaiting SPS shareholder approval.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span> </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>The addition of the 10 new cranes is said to be conditional on completion of the infrastructure work. A significant item in this area could be additional vacuum mooring units for larger vessels. In 2014 Salalah installed Cavotec’s MoorMaster system at its container berths 5 and 6. In 2016 Salalah added 16 further MoorMaster units for berths 3 and 4 at a cost of approximately EUR 10M.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span> </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>The primary reason for installing vacuum mooring at Salalah was to hold vessels in a stable position during the Kareef season, when tidal surges of up to 2.5m reduce crane productivity considerably.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr"><span>Source: worldcargonews 17 December 2022</span></p> <div><span><br> </span></div>