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Reflecting the healthy growth of the economy, the total volume of containers
handled by Malaysian ports rose by a commendable nine per cent in the
January- May this year over the volume handled in the previous year.
The 11 principal container handling ports in Malaysia handled a total of
5.32 million TEUs in the first five months of this year.
Port Klang, comprising Northport and Westports, handled 2.54 million TEUs in
the first five months of this year.
Northport handled 1.08 million TEUs in the January-May while Westports made
up the rest of the volume.
Both terminals continued to attract more services including lines with
deploying bigger capacity ships in the region of 8,000-9000 TEUs.
Northport alone managed to attract 14 new services in the January- May
period.
Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Johor handled 1.82 million TEUs while Johor Port
handled 338,189 TEUs in the first five months period of this year.
PTP is moving ahead with its plans to increase its capacity to handle eight
million TEUs annually with the construction of berths nine and 10 which are
expected to be completed by end of this year.
The new berths would have the capacity to handle vessels of up to 250,000
dead-weight tonnes (dwt) and offer drafts of 19 meters alongside.
To meeting the shipside handling requirements of cope the mega carriers, PTP
has taken delivery of the latest ship-to-shore (STS) gigantic cranes that
cost RM26 million a piece from IMPSA Malaysia.
PTP will be taking another five more units of the cranes with twin-lift 40
feet containers at the same time. The total height of the completely
built-up of the latest quay crane is 89 meters, with150 meter total length.
Penang Port serving the northern Peninsular Malaysia region handled close to
330,000 TEUs while on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Kuantan Port
handled close to 50,000 TEUs during the period under review.
The combined container traffic handled by ports in Sabah totaled 88,190 TEUs
as against 84,000 TEUs during the period under review.
Meanwhile total container traffic at Sarawak ports, contributed largely by
Bintulu Port and Kuching Port, recorded a double-digit growth of 155,000
TEUs in the January-may period of 2006 as compared with 142,000 teus in
January-May 2005. |
