Oman's Salalah port achieved a berth productivity of 237 containers per hour, placing it among three ports having the highest recorded berth productivity worldwide for the year 2000, the port said in an announcement. "In close co-operation with the vessel crew and Maersk Sealand associates in Europe and Asia, Salalah Port Services managed to achieve a berth productivity of 237 containers per hour on the vessel Svendborg Maersk which was alongside the port on the 15th of November," the statement said. The port said it handled 963 containers in just over four hours with an average gross crane productivity of 38.7 container moves per hour and, though not being an industry record, the achievement put it in the top three bracket for berth productivity globally this year.

"During the past few months, the port of Salalah has very silently been making dramatic strides towards being one of the most efficient ports in the world. Over the past few weeks, the port achieved a high level of cost efficiency with average berth production touching 150 moves per hour in October on several shipping lines' vessels," the port said. Maersk Sealand CEO Stubkjaer commented on the high levels of productivity in a congratulatory message to the port's management. Salalah Port general manager Chris Lytle congratulated members of the operations team.

Salalah has moved from an average gross crane productivity of 22.5 moves per hour in the first operating year to between 29.5 and 30 moves per hour in the second year, which it has completed, according to the statement,

The port, which will operate new container handling equipment in the first quarter of 2001, hopes to achieve a gross crane productivity of 35 to 40 moves per hour by the end of its third operating year.