ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

PORT KLANG: Container volume moving through Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd rose by 15 per cent or 6.4 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year, compared with 5.6 million TEUs in 2010.

In a statement, Westports said the better-than-expected container volume throughput comes from both transhipment and indigenous boxes, registering positive increases of 22 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

The robust performance in 2011 has made Westports one of the fastest growing ports in the world.

“The port has been well-known to the shipping industry as one of world’s best productivity terminal operator in container handling.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect to see a strong growth trend in volumes moving forward albeit uncertainty in eurozone, we have set a target of seven million TEUs in 2012,” Westports chief executive officer Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said.

Ruben said expansion plan to further improve the port’s capacity is underway with the current development of expanding the existing 3,700m container terminal to 4,600m, making Westports Malaysia a 10-million-TEU handling capacity port within the next two years.

The new terminal is designed to handle 18,000-TEU capacity vessel, which will be the largest container vessel in the world come 2013.

He said the company’s investment in expansion works is to accommodate the needs of its customers as well as meeting the increasing demands of domestic and international trade.

by: Business Times

Northport (Malaysia) Bhd has emerged as winner of the Asian Freight and Supply Chains awards (AFSCA) 2010, beating seven other ports in the region.

Malaysia’s leading port, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, posted a healthy 27 per cent surge in its container volume for the first quarter of this year compared with the corresponding period of last year

Improvements were seen in both performance and productivity, especially in container operations, Westports said in a statement.

Westports container throughput was 1.244 million TEUs compared with 981,000 TEUs in the first quarter of 2009.

Local volume increased by 24 per cent while transshipment was up by 22 per cent.

“If we compare our first quarter figures with that of 2008, which had a stronger performance compared with the slower and weaker 2009, we have actually grown by 7 per cent and this puts us on a stronger platform to achieve 5.2 million TEUs for 2010,” said Westports executive director Ruben Emir Gnanalingam in the statement.

Westports recorded a container volume of 1.166 million TEUs in the first quarter of 2008.

“Looking forward, the outlook for 2010 will be generally better than in 2009. There has been an uptrend in Westports’ throughput in past months and that could well be extended into the rest of the year,” Ruben said.

Most encouraging was the growth of local boxes, which saw Westports market share in Port Klang rising to 44 per cent while that for transshipment growth was retained at 71 per cent.

Overall, Westports commanded a market share of 61 per cent in Port Klang.

A significant development in Q1 was the new world benchmark for productivity recently.

“Westports’ operations team yet again showed its dexterity and skills in container handling when it managed to hit crane productivity of 734 moves in a single hour of operations with nine-crane deployment, erasing the earlier mark of 665 mph done on a CMA vessel in 2008,” the statement said.

This feat was performed on March 9 while working on CSCL Pusan, a 9,600-TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) vessel belonging to China Shipping.

A total of 5,244 moves were achieved on this vessel, which sails on the AEX 7 service (eastbound).

The productivity achieved over such a large volume of moves across the vessel continues to boost the port’s status as the World’s Best 5 for Productivity and a leading mega transshipment hub in the region.

On port expansion works, Ruben said: “We will build a new 300m wharf when we hit 450,000 TEUs consecutively for three months.

“This would be followed by the acquisition of additional equipment and manpower. Our current capacity is 7.2 million TEUs.” – Bernama

THE year 2010 will be a big year for Penang Port.

The extension to its container wharf will be completed and the six new cranes built by ZPMC and delivered in December 2009 will commence service.

As the Penang Port managing director Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar puts it: “There will be new operational options including on wharf storage serviced by high speed rail mounted gantry cranes, a new access bridge to the wharf and more storage yard space.”

Business overview

For the next three years, the Penang Port will continue to embark on its capacity building and productivity improvement to support its aim to be a premier port and logistics chain integrator in the IMT-GT economic region as well as for Bay of Bengal.

As container handling will continue to be its main revenue contributor, the Penang Port has invested more than RM1 billion for a few major projects since 2008.

North ButterworthContainer Terminal (NBCT) Phase 3

The expansion of NBCT Phase 3 will be undertaken in two phases.

Phase 3A – The first phase in the expansion of dedicated container terminal will include a new 600-metre wharf extension to the existing 900-metre wharf.

A new decking area for export container and support by a third access bridge is under construction.

This project is expected to be completed ahead of schedule before end of 2010.

Phase 3B – Construction of a new back stacking area to the existing 900-metre wharves.

To compliment this expansion project, the Penang Port has taken delivery of seven ZMPC Post-Panamax cranes.

Four cranes were delivered in November 2009, while the remainder arrived in early December.

The cranes, which cost RM25 million each, were delivered fully assembled. A Post-Panamax crane can reach 18 rows of containers on board a ship.

The new cranes with its twin-lift capabilities will speed up handling operations as it can pick up two containers at a time.

In line with these new projects, productivity at the port will be enhanced with a new target of crane productivity at more than 25 moves per hour per crane.

With this expansion plan in place and supported by a programme to deepen the access channel at north channel, to be carried out in 2011, it will enable Penang Port to attract more mainline call and direct services.

The port can be positioned as a regional transshipment hub and upgraded to be one of the major container ports in Bay of Bengal.

Cargo services

“The Penang Port continues to build its capacity to cater for existing and potential growth in bulk cargo,” said Ahmad.

“We are also in the midst of planning to re-develop the old Prai wharf into a fully dedicated modern bulk terminal to handle limestone, iron ore and cement clinkers.

“The amount of investment is expected to be about RM224 million,” he said.

The new terminal will be 14 metres deep and will be able to handle panamax vessels.

It will have a state-of-the-art conveyor belt, which will be linked directly to the customer’s premises.

The terminal will also be connected directly to KTMB’s national grid and will initially be expected to handle two million tonnes of bulk limestone and iron ore.

Ahmad said the Penang Port would continue to strengthen its cargo base by further increasing its land bank through the reclamation of an additional 404 hectares for various business activities and niche cargo such as free zone activities, halal hub and possibly to set up auto port and metal exchanges.

By: Lee Keng Fatt