ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

The maritime sector is expected to achieve up to RM19 billion profit and provide over 55,000 jobs in 2020, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

Najib said he was confident that the industry would thrust Malaysia as a nation that has the capabilities not only in the petroleum automotive industry but also venture into building high technology ships.

“The construction of the dredger “Inai Kenanga” can be classified as a high-impact project,” he said at the launch of the biggest ship in Asia and third largest in the world, here.

The close to RM1 billion Inai Kenanga was built by Selat Melaka Shipbuilding Corporation Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd.

The dredger has a market price of RM1.2 billion.

Najib said the ship was built in tandem with the Economic Transformation Plan and an entry point project as it provided a big impact to the country’s economy particularly in realising government efforts to transform the country into an advanced nation.

The prime minister said the government was constantly finding, identifying and developing sectors with good potential.

“The maritime sector, especially involving shipbuilding and ship maintenance work, is one of the industries accorded priority by the government,” he said.

Najib said big and efficient ports in and outside the country really needed dredgers of this size.

According to an appendix published by MIGHT — Maritime Industry Report 2013 — the government projected that shipbuilding and ship repair would rake in more than RM7 billion. 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