ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

… due to bleak outlook

PORT KLANG: Port Klang, the national maritime gateway, projects a 10% fall in cargo volume due to the bleak outlook for the economy this year.

Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager Lim Thean Shiang said both port operators, Northport and Westports, started to feel the contraction in volume last month with a 16% drop in cargo volume against the same month in 2008.

“In an effort to cultivate and sustain the port business this year, especially import and export activities, PKA has decided on a blanket waiver for those who have difficulties in adhering to the three-day container free storage period at the port,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Port Klang previously had a five-day free storage period but this was cut to three days effective Jan 1.

Lim said the continuation of the waiver would be reviewed in July based on the economic climate then.

Lim Thean Shiang

Lim Thean Shiang

“But, the Port Klang community must continue to upgrade their efficiencies to operate under the three-day free storage period when the economy revives,” he said.

Additionally, PKA will also continue the feeder incentive scheme by April but with a new pre-qualification criteria.

The feeder incentive is given to feeder operators that help bring cargo to Port Klang from other places in the region.

The incentive was frozen in October for PKA to re-study its contribution to the cargo growth at Port Klang.

A total sum of RM37mil in incentive had been given to feeder operators since 10 years ago.

On Port Klang’s performance, Lim said it had recorded a 12% increase in cargo volume to 7.97 million 20-ft equivalent units (TEUs) last year from 7.11 million TEUs in 2007.

“This achievement has propelled Port Klang to be ranked the 15th-busiest port of the world in terms of volume last year from number 16 the previous year,” he said.

By SHARIDAN M.ALI

Come January, a new law reducing the period in which containers can be stored at Port Klang for free from five days to three will be enforced

PORT Klang Authority (PKA) will organise a trial run for the soon-to-be-implemented three-day free storage period for containers at Port Klang from November 1, with the cooperation of several members of the Selangor Freight Forwarders & Logistics Association.

“We are having the trial run to ensure that there are no hiccups in January when we fully implement the ruling … it also gives us two months to refine it to make sure that it benefits the whole port community once it is implemented,” PKA general manager and chief executive officer Lim Thean Shiang said in Port Klang last week.

Come January, a new law reducing the period in which containers can be stored at Port Klang for free from five days to three will be enforced.

In July this year, PKA had set up a committee, which comprises representation from all trade associations, to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP), detailing the role each party plays in the total logistics chain and the cut-off time for export and import shipments.

Lim said almost 100 per cent of the SOP of each logistics provider has been finalised to date.

The committee has also come up with three areas of improvement that need to be focused on.

Firstly, the need for an amendment to clause 65(3) of the Port Klang Authority Bylaws to exempt containers which are detained by Other Governments Agencies, and a change in calculation of free storage period from days to hours.

The committee also suggested that the advance notification requirement to hauliers be reduced from 48 hours to 24.

PKA will consult with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry Development on the matter of the advance notification as the Association of Malaysian Hauliers has yet to agree to it.

Lim also said as part of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, PKA is looking at improving the connectivity bet-ween Northport and Westports due to the high cost of inter-terminal transfer of containers between the two ports.

The regulator is mulling the possibility of having a dedicated road for transporters between the ports, so as to reduce the number of accidents on public roads as well as to cut the handling costs between the two ports.

By: btimes.com.my