ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

The state government has received positive feedback from the Federal government on its proposal to set up a port authority to monitor ports and jetties in the state.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the feedback was on certain procedures and legal aspects relating to the establishment of the body.

“We hope it will be given favourable consideration by the Federal government.

“We have received information that besides the Federal government’s approval, the matter needs to be brought up to the Cabinet and needs the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

“So the approval process will take time,” he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive council meeting here Wednesday.

He said Perak needs its own port authority with the increase in ports and ship movements as well as to plan for the state’s increasingly important role as a maritime area.

Perak’s main port is Lumut, with smaller ones in Kampung Acheh and Bagan Datoh.

On the highway project in Perak’s west coast, he said the state is waiting for the Works Minister’s decision on the commencement date.

“We hope it can be expedited although we know the Federal government has its own commitments. We don’t know how soon, but we know the Federal government also wants it expedited,” he said.

On June 27, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said the cabinet had approved, under the third rolling plan of the 10th Malaysia Plan, the construction of two new highways — the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road (KLORR) and the West Coast Expressway linking Taiping to Banting.

In another development, Zambry said the state Barisan Nasional, of which he is chairman, will send a team led by Perak Umno information chief Datuk Saarani Mohamad to assist the BN candidate for the Kuala Besut by-election, Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman. BERNAMA

IJM Corporation Bhd, the operator of Kuantan Port, will invest about RM2 billion to build a new deep water terminal for the berthing of vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage.

IJM Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Datuk Teh Kean Ming said construction of the new terminal is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year, with a 24-month completion period.

Once ready, he said the new terminal will double the size of the multipurpose port, in terms of capacity to handle 52 million freight tonnes of cargo, from the current 26 million.

“We are currently looking at the final design plan. Once our Chinese partner, Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group Co Ltd, come on board in October this year, we can decide on further specifications.

“The proceeds from IJM’s 40 per cent stake disposal in Kuantan Port to Guangxi, will be used to fund the construction, together with a portion of internal funding,” Teh told Bernama.

The IJM-Guangxi sale and purchase deal of about US$102 million (about RM323.08 million), is expected to be finalised within the next three months.

Teh said the new terminal will be constructed with a water depth of 16 metres, with plans in place to dredge the waters to two more metres, in the second phase of development.

“We will construct the terminal under the first phase. The construction works will be mainly undertaken by IJM, as we have the expertise,” he added.

The expansion of Kuantan Port is part of the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), in which Guangxi will invest more than RM7 billion directly or via joint ventures with Malaysian companies.

Kuantan Port is situated about 25 kilometres to the north of Kuantan city and faces the South China Sea on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Previously run by the Kuantan Port Authority, it was privatised in 1998, and is now operated by Kuantan Port Consortium Sdn Bhd.BERNAMA

WESTPORTS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, operator of the country’s busiest port, expects to see growth in its business for next year despite the gloomy global economy.

Its chief executive Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said despite the global economic crisis and news of the European economy in recession, consumption worldwide is increasing.

He said Westports’ cargo volume is growing due to rising demand in India and other African and West Asian countries.

“Although the economic outlook is not so good for most of the world, consumption is increasing and cargoes need to be moved from the countries manufacturing them to countries that consume them. So there is a lot of growth,” Ruben Emir said.

Westports’ core business is container operations and its major clients are CMA CGM group, China Shipping and United Arab Shipping Corp.

He said Westports is confident of handling seven million TEUs of container cargo this year.

“I think we have hit six million TEUs and so, with one million TEUS more before year-end, I think we should be almost touching it,” Ruben Emir said.
Last year, Westports handled 6.4 million TEUs.

However, he said Westports hopes to achieve eight to 10 million TEUs once its additional 300m berths and 600m berths are completed by 2014. Bernama

Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd has signed a long-term sub-lease agreement Thursday with Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd at Port Klang for storing, supplying and distributing petroleum products.

The 14-year agreement enables Shell to operate and manage liquid bulk cargo at Westports Liquid Bulk Terminal (LBT).

Products to be stored initially are diesel and petrol.

“Westports is proud to have one of the largest companies in the world operating at the Westports LBT terminal,” said Westports’ Executive Director, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam in the statement released here, Friday.

He added that Shell, emerging as a conventional client, certainly speaks volume of Westports’ strength, especially its strategic location to attract leading industries to undertake commercial activities at the port.

The terminal spans 9.71 hectares and includes access to Westports’ jetty that is medium range/long range vessel capable, cargo lines, fuel and chemical tanks and gantry facilities.

— BERNAMA

PENANG Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) is carrying out a rebranding exercise which will see it enhancing its facilities and services to clients while positioning its entire port operations under a new image.

Its managing director, Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar said the entire rebranding process will not only involve the services the port is offering but also the image, delivery and the work structure of the organisation and its employees.

He said the changes are in order for PPSB to play a bigger role in driving the region’s logistics industry, in line with the government’s aspirations to make Penang the logistics hub for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER).

When met by Bernama recently, he said that PPSB so far has identified several image solutions that were suited for the company to adopt for its rebranding exercise and hoped to finalise them by the first quarter of next year.

A rebranding programme could then be carried out to give workers a fresh inspiration and encourage them to work harder and make Penang Port relevant to the region’s logistics industry.

“We also want to attract users in the northern region including Southern Thailand to use the Penang Port as a main hub for exporting halal products to the rest of the world,” Ahmad said.

He said PPSB was also working to attract bigger ships from the Middle East and India to use the Penang Port as their cargo delivery and loading centre in the future.

“To enable the bigger ships to call here, we need to deepen the Pulau Pinang Straits and this will need a huge amount of money,” he said.

Ahmad also said that people often had a wrong view of PPSB and thought of it as being only a provider of ferry services and used the services to measure the entire capability of the company.

“That is not accurate, as besides the ferry (services), we are also involved in cargo handling, landing of cruise ships and others. We recorded profit in all the other services except the ferry services,” he added. – Bernama

By: btimes.com.my