ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Plans are underway to increase the capacity of the newly-completed Sepanggar Container Port Terminal (SPTC) in order to meet growing demand.

According to Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, ever since the container port was open for business, it has been recording an upward trend in performance.

Speaking after attending a briefing cum work visit to SPTC, Thursday, he said Sabah Port Sdn Bhd (SPSB) has been mulling over the expansion plan.

This is to further improve the port’s capacity to enable it to handle more containers coming into Sabah.

“The port has been recording a commendable increase in terms of operational performance and an expansion plan is necessary and something to look forward to,” he said.

This despite the port with a capacity of 500,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) handling only about 200,000 TEUs last year as said by its Chief Operating Officer Mohd Sahid Nawab Khan.

Pairin said the privatisation of ports in Sabah has resulted in their management becoming more efficient as reflected by the steady increase of operational performance.

He said that positive performance displayed by the container port showed that it was heading in the right direction.

Explaining the expansion plan, he said it would be carried out based on projected future needs. “The plan would include increasing the size of the container yard and docking areas.”

Costing RM400 million over 22ha in Sepanggar opposite the Naval Base, the port commenced operations on June 9, 2007.

Plan for expansion of the newly completed Sepanggar Container Port Terminal (SPTC) is being foreseen.

Infrastructure Development Minister, Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan yesterday said Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd (SPSB), the government-linked company managing the port, was already mulling on expansion plan to further improve the port’s capacity.

The port, sitting on a 22 hectare land started operation June 9, 2007, has a capacity of 500,000 TEUs but last year it handled only about 200,000 TEUs, as revealed by its Chief Operating Officer, Mohd Sahid Nawab Khan.

However, according to Pairin, since commencing operation it has recorded a commendable increase in terms of operational performance and thus an expansion plan was something to look forward to.

He said the move to privatize the ports in Sabah has resulted in a more efficient management where a steady increase in operational performance has been noticeable.

“Operation wise, the privatization is showing a desirable result as the performance of our port continues to improve. We are heading towards the right direction,” he told reporters here yesterday during a visit to SPTC yesterday.

He said the scale of the expansion would depend on future needs and it would involve increasing the size of the container yard and docking areas.

Pairin who was in his first work visit to the port since taking over the Ministry of Infrastructure Development in May, however regretted that high percentage of empty containers going out from the port has continued.

He said this was due to Sabah still not producing sufficient manufactured product for export.

In the mean time, SPSB Chairman Datuk Karim Bujang explained that Sabah currently exports mainly crude palm oil which does not require the usage of containers.

Sahid added that 70 per cent of the total containers handled that entered through the port last year returned empty and the figure has increased slightly this year.

Other ports around the globe, he noted, were showing similar trend due to global economic slowdown.

Most of the cargos it handles are from Peninsular Malaysia with a small percentage of transit cargos.

By :  Sabah Times

On the 21^st May 2007, Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) was graced with the visit of the federal Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy.

Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy was briefed by Suria Capital Holdings Berhad’ Group Managing Director, Datuk Hj. Abu Bakar Hj. Abas on the current progress of the states newly built container port. It was announced that SBCP was ready for operation on 1^st June 2007 and shifting of the containerization activity from KK port to Sapangar would commence on the mentioned date.

Among the issues that were highlighted in the briefing was the impressive development of the ports in Sabah, in particular Kota Kinabalu port, which had grown in terms of container throughput.

An increase of almost 8.5% was recorded in KK Port from a total of 141 969 teus (in 2005) to 153 793 teus (in 2006) and for the first quarter of 2007, a growth of 20% container throughput was achieved.

In addition, the container rate productivity had significantly increased to 18 boxes an hour and is expected to reach 20 – 22 boxes per hour upon the operation of SBCP. Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy hailed these improvements as phenomenal and cited the crucial role of crane productivity in terms of faster turnaround time which will attract vessels to SBCP.

Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy had also mentioned on the need of the ports in East Malaysia to grow and take advantage of the opportunities in the Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP EAGA) and for East Malaysian ports to complement each other in this respect.

Among the officials that were in attendance was Sabah’s Deputy Chief Minister cum Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Edward Khoo, Sabah Ports Authority (SPA) Chairman, Datuk Dr Zaki Gusmiah and SPSB Board of Directors and officials.