APM TERMINALS will keep hold of its key Gemini hub at Salalah, despite reports that its concession at the Omani port was coming to an end.

Salalah Port Services, which operates the port and in which AMPT holds a significant stake, confirmed that its concession agreement would not be renewed past the expiry date of November 1, 2028.

It said in a disclosure on the Muscat Stock Exchange that Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communication and IT had informed it of the decision.

On the surface that reads as if AMPT would be exiting Salalah less than four years after it was named a key hub port under its Gemini network alongside Hapag-Lloyd.

But Lloyd’s List understands that the reality is a change in the concession structure. A tender process has already taken place which will see APMT remain a key stakeholder in the new entity that will continue to operate the terminal.

APMT told Lloyd’s List it “remains a central party of such structure and operational management of the container terminal” and that the final agreement was “still under conclusion”.

Under APMT’s operation, the port has undergone significant upgrades that have seen its capacity increase from 4.5m to 6.5m teu.

APMT has invested in a new access road, electrical substation and an additional 2,000 reefer plugs over the past 18 months.

New equipment, including 10 new ship-to-ship cranes and 12 rubber-tyred gantry cranes, have also been installed at the terminal, which saw its throughput increase by 30% in 2025, propelling it to 50 in Lloyd’s List Top 100 Container Ports.