ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Port Klang, which is projected to handle 10.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) this year, may have a third port in the next five to six years to help meet the growing demand, Deputy Minister of Transport Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said.

Currently the existing port operators, Northport and Westports, are still able to meet the demand and cater to the needs of shipping lines, he said.

“The third port is part of the Port Klang Development Master Plan to strengthen the world’s 12th busiest port in the future,” he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ‘Asia – Engine for Growth’ logistics forum and exhibition here today.

Asked if there any plans to increase Port Klang’s tariff structure to be on par with neighbours’, Abdul Aziz said there is no tariff revision at the moment.

“We are trying to offer competitive rates to encourage more vessels to Malaysia,” he said.

The current handling charges for a 20-foot and a 40-foot container are RM230 and RM345 respectively, while transshipment costs RM140 for a 20-foot box and RM210 for a 40-foot box.

The deputy minister said the government is committed to continuing to develop and expand ports in the country including to deepen and widen the entrance to the Kuantan Port, which faces the South China Sea.

“We are going to provide an integrated multi-modal transport system, this can be seen in the efficient highway system we have in place and the double-tracking rail network that is currently being undertaken by the government,” he said.

Abdul Aziz said the government will continue to give strong support to realise Port Klang’s vision to remain the national load centre and be the region’s most preferred logistics hub.

“Both terminals at Port Klang have purchased hybrid equipment in line with the government’s green technology initiative to enhance productivity and efficiency as well as to promote a green environment,” he said.

Port Klang, the premier container port in Malaysia, handled over 10 million TEUs last year.BERNAMA

Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) is throwing the ball back into the court of international shipping lines who have slammed the terminal operator for not penalising shippers that overload their cargo containers on a vessel.

PPSB chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Ibnihajar said it was based on the appeals made by shipping lines to allow overloaded vessels into the port that resulted in no enforcement made to date.

“It’s the members of the International Ship Owners’ Association of Malaysia (ISOA) themselves who have been appealing to us and now they are blaming us for not penalising the offending shippers,” he told Business Times.

Ahmad was responding to a Business Times report where international container shipping lines operating at Penang Port slammed the terminal operator for not penalising shippers who overload their cargo containers on a vessel, saying it could lead to an accident.

ISOA secretary Fong Keng Lun said requests for enforcement have been sent to PPSB as early as June last year, but so far the calls have gone unheeded.

Ahmad said PPSB will be calling a meeting of all its users soon and ask them to decide whether they want enforcement to take effect immediately.

“The ISOA members can decide if they want us to ignore their previous appeal and support the rule that any overweight containers detected by us be not allowed to be loaded onto the vessels,” he added.

Fong had claimed that ISOA had sent repeated requests to PPSB to impose the rule that any overweight containers detected by the terminal operator will not be allowed to be loaded onto the vessels.

He said apart from the risks to human lives and the transportation operators’ equipment, some of the overweight containers were subsequently detected at transshipment ports like Hong Kong and were held back until the shipping lines had repacked the overweight containers.

The maximum permissible weight of a 20-foot container is 24 tonnes, 30.48 tonnes for a 40-foot container and up to 32 tonnes for a new-generation 40-foot container.

By : Marina Emmanuel

International container shipping lines operating at Penang Port have slammed the terminal operator for not penalising shippers who overload their cargo containers on a vessel, saying it could lead to an accident.

International Ship Owners’ Association of Malaysia (ISOA) secretary Fong Keng Lun said requests for enforcement have been sent to Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) as early as June last year, but so far the calls have gone unheeded.

In a letter dated June 30 2008, obtained by Business Times, the association wrote that some of its members had reported that overweight containers from southern Thailand regularly slipped through the checks at Penang Port and Padang Besar Terminal and were loaded onto the vessels.

“Some of these (overweight) containers were subsequently detected at transshipment ports like Hong Kong and were held back until the shipping lines had repacked the overweight containers.

“Shipping lines have to incur repacking costs and very often, due to time constraint, the on-carrying vessels have to sail off without the containers,” ISOA said, also voicing concerns over the risks to human lives and the transportation operators’ equipment.

In the same letter, the association had requested for PPSB’s support to impose the rule that any overweight containers detected by the terminal operator will not be allowed to be loaded onto the vessels.

“A circular was also sent to all ISOA members on July 2 2008, urging them not to accept overweight containers,” Fong told Business Times.

The maximum permissible weight of a 20-foot container is 24 tonnes, 30.48 tonnes for a 40-foot container and up to 32 tonnes for a new generation 40-foot container.

Fong said more recently the association made repeated pleas on May 6 and June 4, which have been ignored by PPSB.

“The letters were issued following news that the problem of overweight containers from South Thailand via Penang had resurfaced. The problem occurred with containers delivered by barge/feeder as well as by rail from Padang Besar,” he added.

Fong said ISOA’s latest calls for immediate action to stem the overweight container issue at Penang Port was also due to a March 2009 incident at Kantang Port, Thailand, which saw two barges heading for Penang Port sank due to overweight cargo.

“Today, both the Kantang terminal and barge operator are not implementing any enforcement of regulations pertaining to overweight cargo. PPSB likewise is also not implementing any check on this issue,” he said.

Fong added that the association was baffled why no action had so far been taken by PPSB on the matter, when Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd, which manages the Padang Besar Terminal, has responded favourably to similar calls made recently.

“Is PPSB waiting for another accident to happen before it takes any action?” said Fong.

In a letter signed by Multimodal Freight general manager Azman Ahmad Shaharbi, dated May 26 2009, Azman said the company will reject containers found to be overweight and agreed not to load them onto Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd’s (KTMB) trains for export via Penang Port. Multimodal Freight is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KTMB.

It also pledged to install a weighing bridge for weighing all incoming containers, which is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

By : Kang Siew Li

THE Port Klang Authority (PKA), the regulator of Northport and Westports, plans to review the tariff structure at both terminals to bring their rates on a par with their neighbours’.

“People perceive that cheap tariff is the main reason why a shipping line calls at a port. I think that is the least of the reasons, but rather it’s about the efficiency and cost-effectiveness,” PKA general manager Lim Thean Shiang told Business Times in an interview.

He said Port Klang’s tariffs on most of the services it provides have remained unchanged since 1965.

It was reported that current handling charges for a 20-foot and a 40-foot container are RM230 and RM345 respectively. For transhipment, it costs RM140 for a 20-foot box and RM210 for a 40-footer.

“It is not about making more profit, but about helping port operators improve their infrastructure and facilities.

“If they don’t get higher tariffs, it is difficult for them to reinvest (in new equipment and facilities); and, if they don’t reinvest, we will never catch up with other (international) ports,” Lim said.

Citing Hamburg as an example, he said that 70 per cent of its operations is automated. Its port charges are about five to six times higher than those at Port Klang.

He has asked that the PKA’s research and development team collect tariff rates of ports in the region, which has several world-class ports, as a benchmark.

Once a review is done, a proposal will be sent to the Minister of Transport for approval.

On another matter, Lim said the port authority had put the dredging of the north channel on hold. It will study the viability of expanding the south channel instead.

The initial plan was to dredge the north channel in two stages to a depth of 15 metres, from 11.3m.

Work to deepen the channel to 13.3m has been completed, but further dredging to 15 metres is pending approval.

Expansion of the south channel waterway from 365m to 500m will allow for two-way traffic.

Lim said the final decision on which project to proceed with will consider the economic and safety benefits to be derived.

While both projects will need about the same amount of capital outlay, further dredging of the north channel would be more costly owing to the maintenance dredging needed to upkeep the depth at 15m.

“I am from the private sector, and it’s all about dollars and cents. All decisions should be based on commercial gain,” Lim said.

By : Presenna Nambiar