The 9,000 metric tonne MV Maria, owned and operated by SAL Heavy Lift GmbH, berthed at the container terminal C Steinweg Oman (CSO). On board was a 300-tonne gas turbine due for installation at a new power plant under construction in the Batinah area. The arrival of the 1,000th vessel this early augurs well for a significant increase in ship calls during 2012. When compared with figures for 2011, Port of Sohar received its 1,000th vessel in September of the year, notching up a tally of 1,474 calls by year’s end. The CSO Terminal handles industrial project cargo, among which many heavy lifts, a variety of break-bulk cargos (aluminium ingots and sows, steel billets, steel coils, steel pipes and tubulars, steel plates, and so on), dry-bulk and RO-RO cargo.