ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Hamburg SUd, the 12th largest container carrier in the world, is the latest shipping line making Westports its home at Port Klang. Its vessel “Cap San Marco” (9,600 TEU), one of 12 units between 8,500 and 9,600 TEU deployed in the South America Service (ASIA 2), called at Westports Malaysia for the first time on 20th July

Hamburg SUd, the 12th largest container carrier in the world, is the latest shipping line to make Westports Malaysia in Port Klang its home.

Its vessel “Cap San Marco”, with capacity of 9,600 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and one of 12 units between 8,500 TEUs and 9,600 TEUs deployed in the South America Service (ASIA 2), called at Westports for the first time on Saturday.

The ASIA 2 service will see Westports further expanding its services coverage between South America and the Far East, improving the delivery time and connectivity for cargo shipped via the port.

Officiating the maiden call event at Westports Malaysia was Joint General Manager of Hamburg SUd for Region Asia Pacific Region, Stefan Kirschner.

“We are optimistic about the continued growth of Asia particularly Southeast Asia. The ASIA 2 service calling at Westports Malaysia will enable us to provide our customers with the best possible transit time to the key markets in South America and the Far East,” Kirschner said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Westports Malaysia Chief Executive Officer, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said the maiden call of Cap San Marco was another historical moment for Westports as this marked the beginning of its long-term partnership with Hamburg SUd.

“We are determined to provide Hamburg SUd with our continuous support and work hand-in-hand with them to expand their presence here,” he said.

In line with the terminal expansion of Westports and its volume growth, the government has given its commitment in deepening the South Channel and widening the current access roads in order to ensure that the port can continue to enhance its services to the shipping community and port users.

Westports is on an expansion mode in anticipation of the volume growth and progress on its Container Terminal 7 (CT7), measuring 600 metre in quay length.

Upon completion, it will increase Westports’ overall handling capacity from 9.5 million TEUs to 11 million TEUs.

This new berth is specifically designed and capable of handling the 18,000-TEU vessels which are currently the world’s largest container vessels in the order book. BERNAMA

A very good morning.

First & foremost on behalf of ASEAN Ports Association, Malaysia, allow me to record our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the secretariat & all of the member of ASEAN Ports Association for giving our country Malaysia the honour to host the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Committee Meeting. ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia is pleased to host this meeting in Kuantan the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia.

Dato’-Dato’, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I would like also to express my sincere appreciation & thanks to our Guest of Honour, The Honourable YB Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri, Deputy Minister of Transport for his agreement to deliver a keynote address and to officiate the opening of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Committee Meeting.

I wish to extend also our deepest appreciation and thanks to Dato’-Dato’ and distinguished guest for being presence here. Indeed your presence here show & reflect of your strong and continuous support to the development of Kuantan Port. I hope your cooperation & contribution will continue towards a prosperous development of Kuantan Port in the future.

Dato’-Dato’, Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia, it gives me a great pleasure to wish a warm welcome to all the delegates of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Main Meeting. The delegates are from the ASEAN Nation, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and not to forget our own country Malaysia.

We are glad that you all have landed here in Kuantan & hope that you will have a pleasant stay. Our team is ready to assist you in your need and interest. We hope that we will meet your expectation. While you are here, please take the opportunity to explore the city of Kuantan. Kuantan is the largest city in the East Coast of Malaysia with approximately 607,700 population. It is situated near the mouth of Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. No wonder Kuantan’s main sight seeing attraction is the beautiful scenic beaches. Our team have planned for the delegates to have the excitement and enjoyment of one of the beaches by having lunch at the famous beach of Teluk Chempedak on the 24th of November.

If delegates like shopping, East Coast Mall, a shopping mall of 1 million sq feet of build-up area is located just in front of this hotel.

Distinguished delegates, I would suggest you to refer to your programme of activities book which have being provided to you during the registration. It is important to do so as to make sure that you all will not miss the excitement and benefit of the programme. I hope that the delegates will have a memorable time ini the next three days and I would like to wish all a fruithful gathering and networking.
Last but far from least, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all for participating in this opening ceremony of the 37th ASEAN Ports Association Meeting. Once again right from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank our guest of honour YB Dato’ Abdul Rahim Bakri, Deputy Minister of Transport for his commitment to officiate the opening of this meeting.
Thank You.

IN SPITE of the difficult yet challenging economic recession that it encountered recently, Penang Port Sdn Bhd has managed to keep afloat and still perform at its best.

It did experience difficulties in the beginning. However, every cloud has a silver lining and for Penang Port, abundant opportunities emerged, just waiting to be capitalised on.

This was due to the following factors:

* Marketing strategy

In line with the Penang Port’s strategy to be supply-driven and make Penang Port a mainline port, it has embarked on several key projects.

Presently, Penang Port captures more than 90 per cent of the market share in port handling for trade by sea within the hinterland of four northern states of the peninsular and more than 50 per cent of the market share for the southern Thai region.

Its market assessment was clear – the hinterland generates cargoes and Penang is an important link for exporters and importers ensuring they remain competitive and connected in world markets.

* Continuous demand and ample resources

With continuous support from the existing hinterland and future hinterlands such as Medan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Indian sub-continent, Penang Port is capable of performing at its best.

Ample resources from Penang Port’s skilled and motivated employees as well as loyal and supportive stakeholers contributed to its growth and sustainability as a major port in the northern region.

In line with this, the expansion and acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment also helps to propel it to be a world-class port.

* Geographical location

Thanks to its strategic geographical location as well as being within the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), the Penang Port manages to stay ahead, providing the best for its customers.

“Penang Port can be positioned as a regional transshipment hub and upgraded to be one of the major container ports in the Bay of Bengal,” said its managing director Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar.

PORT THROUGHPUT

For the year 2009, Penang Port handled a total of 929,639 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a growth of 3.1 per cent from 958,476 TEUs in 2008.

This was quite an achievement as many other ports in the region were registering negative growth then.

As a multi-purpose port, Penang Port handles dry bulk cargo, liquid bulk cargo, break bulk cargo and also containerised cargo.

Cargo handling performance in 2009 registered a marginal decrease of 6.69 per cent to 24,278,244 tonnes compared with 26,019,903 tonnes in 2008, but for the year to date for 2010, cargo handling recorded a growth rate of 51.59 per cent to 4,361,478 tonnes compared with 2,877,082 tonnes the previous year.

Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal

“Penang Port was proud to receive the RMS Queen Mary 2, one of the world’s largest ocean liners, when it made its maiden call at the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal on February 4.

“It marked a new milestone for the port operations in handling cruise liners.

“With more international cruises berthing at the Swettenham Pier, we aim to achieve higher and better revenue in the near future,” said Ahmad.

With the continuous support of anchor customers, Ahmad said Penang Port managed to handle cruise vessels in spite of the economic downturn in recent times.

Port Achievements

Penang Port has also embarked on a corporate branding exercise.

“Our objective is to elevate the port into a powerful and influential name as well as the brand ambassador for Malaysia, and at the same time ensure the achievement of its long-term objectives.

“This is in line with our infrastructure expansion and attaining the latest port equipment to ensure that Penang Port achieves the efficiency of a world-class port,” said Ahmad.

Penang Port also aims to enhance its image and services and at the same time send out the right message of what it represents or stands for and what it aims to be in the future.

“The whole idea of corporate branding is not only about image building but also about culture and vision.”

Penang Port also strives to deliver on its promises to its customers.

The year 2009 marked another milestone in the history of the port.

It was the first port in Malaysia to receive the MS1900-2005 Quality Management System – Requirement from Islamic Perspective on Provision of Container Handling Services and Warehouse certification from Sirim.

“In order to enhance our safe working environment, we are also undertaking a programme for the OSHAS 18001-2007/MS1722-2005 certification which is expected to be completed by this year,” Ahmad said.