A RO55-MILLION ($15 million) project will breathe new life into a delayed expansion at Salalah port in Oman that is expected to stimulate economic activity in the Dhofar region and in turn attract foreign investments to Salalah.

The general cargo terminal project, to be executed by the Netherland-based marine contractor Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Company, will involve building a general cargo terminal along with a liquid jetty, the Times of Oman reported citing officials close to the project. The project will be overseen by Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The project will increase cargo handling capacity to 20 million tonnes per year (tpy) of dry bulk commodities and over 6 million tonnes of liquid products, in comparison to the port’s present cargo handling capacity of 6.5 million tpy during 2011.

“The general cargo business has been growing rapidly and this expansion will play a significant role in serving the continued development of businesses in Salalah and the surrounding region,” said Peter Ford, chief executive officer of Port of Salalah.

The expansion covers the construction of an additional 1,200 m of multi-purpose berths with 18 m of draft and includes liquid commodities loading facilities.