APM Terminals to lose grip on Salalah hub in 2028

APM Terminals will lose control of the deepsea transhipment hub of Salalah when its concession expires on 1 November 2028, Oman's transport ministry has confirmed.

Salalah Port Service Company disclosed the decision in a filing to the Muscat Stock Exchange. It said it had "received formal notification from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, confirming that the existing concession agreements will not be extended beyond their contractual expiry date of 1 November 2028".

The company added that the notification contained further detail, though the full contents of the ministry's communication were not set out in the initial filing.

What does the decision change?

For now, operationally, nothing. APM Terminals retains control of the Omani gateway until the contractual expiry date, and the port continues to function under the existing concession structure for more than three years.

Strategically, it changes plenty. Salalah sits on the Arabia Sea side of the Arabian Peninsula, outside the Strait of Hormuz, and serves as a key east–west transhipment node for liner networks calling between Asia, Europe and East Africa. Control of the terminal changing hands in 2028 means carriers routing mainline strings through Salalah will face a new operator — and likely new commercial terms — at that point.

For Maersk, APM Terminals' parent and the anchor carrier at Salalah since the port's early growth as a transhipment base, the non-renewal raises network questions. The Danish group has treated Salalah as a strategic hub for its west Asia operations. Losing terminal control does not force a network shift, but it removes the vertical integration advantage of operating the facility that handles its own transhipment flows.

Who decides what happens next?

The ministry's notification sets the clock running on a transition process that Oman will control. The Omani state now has a four-year runway to decide the port's operating model — whether it brings in a new international terminal operator, manages the facility through a state entity, or structures a new concession with different terms.

Salalah Port Service Company's stock-exchange filing signals the decision is formal, not a negotiating position. Concession reviews at major transhipment ports typically hinge on revenue-share terms, investment commitments and local-content requirements, all levers the ministry now holds.

What should shippers and carriers watch?

Transhipment customers — the mainline carriers and their box flows moving between vessel strings at Salalah — face no immediate disruption. The 1 November 2028 date is fixed and distant enough for network planners to adjust.

But the announcement will trigger early positioning. Terminal operators with ambitions in west Asia, including the usual Gulf and Asian majors, will assess bidding for the asset well before the expiry window. Maersk's rivals will read the non-renewal as an opening to contest a hub the Danish carrier has long anchored.

For Oman, the move fits a broader regional pattern of Gulf states seeking greater state control and returns from port infrastructure as concession terms mature.

The next concrete signal will be the full text of the ministry's notification and any transition framework Salalah Port Service Company publishes — details that will clarify whether the 2028 handover runs as a clean break or a staged transfer of operations.