Because of its strategic location on the main shipping route between Europe and Asia, Port Salalah was selected by Sea-Land for a state-of-the-art container transshipment terminal serving various ports on the Indian Sub-Continent, the East Coast of Africa, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf. The `grass roots` terminal has an ultimate capacity of 1,500,000 TEU, with over 1,000,000 lifts per year and is situated on approximately 125 acres of land reclaimed from dredging the existing harbor to a water depth of 52 ft.

Halcrow was selected by Sea-Land to carry out a Definition Study for the new terminal. Subsequently, the Ministry of Transport and Communications retained Halcrow for fast track detailed engineering, bid package preparation, bid analysis, bid award support services, construction planning, and on-site construction management services. Halcrow led a multi-national design team, including local subconsultants, to provide comprehensive engineering services for the design of the marine and upland components of the new, state-of-the-art terminal. Halcrow also provided an on-site management team to supervise construction. Based upon a phased construction approach, the terminal was completed within budget and was in operation within twenty-four months from the start of the detailed design work.