|
Despite
posting a comfortable 17 per cent
increase in its throughput, Port
Klang failed to lift its position
last year from the 12th placing in
world container port it was ranked
in 2000.
The
port, which made ambitious claims of
making into the 10th largest
container port, had to be contended
with 12th placing last year with a
throughput of 3.77 million TEUs,
still ahead of Dubai, its closest
rival.
However,
Dubai, like Port Klang, which grew
largely on account of handling more
transshipment traffic, saw it
closing in on the lead taken by Port
Klang with a volume of 3.50 million
TEUs (compared with 3.02 million
handled in 2000).
Port
Klang, composed of two container
terminal operators – Northport and
Westport – handled transshipment
traffic totaling 0.00 million TEUs,
while Dubai handled 1.73 million
transshipment TEUs.
The
ambitious hope of Port Klang making
into the first 10 world ranking
ports were dashed largely because of
the spectacular growth posted by the
Chinese ports, notably Shenzhen
which was only ahead of Port Klang
in 11th position in 2000 but raced
up to occupy the 8th position last
year.
As
with the impressive growth and gain
posted by Shenzen, Shanghai,
China’s premier sea outlet
recorded a hefty growth to take the
5th position by dislodging
Rotterdam.
Rotterdam
facing rising threat from northern
European ports, recorded a marginal
decline in its throughput and fell
to the 6th position, behind Shanghai
but still ahead of Los Angeles which
retained the 7th position.
The
principal northern European ports,
Hamburg and Bremen/Bremenhaven
retained the 9th and 18th positions
respectively but Antwerp fell a
place behind to 11th.
The
strong growth recorded by Hamburg
however put it ahead of Long Beach
which fell from 8th position to 10th
position.
Hong
Kong which last year retained its
pole position that it snatched from
Singapore since 1995, stretched the
lead ahead of Singapore by handling
17.90 million TEUs although it, like
Singapore, also suffered reverses.
Singapore,
which lost its number one client,
Maersk Sealand, to Pelabuhan Tanjung
Pelepas in Johor last year, kept the
2nd position with a lower volume of
15.52 million TEUs.
Interestingly,
based on figures complied by Ports
World the aggregated container
volumes handled by terminals under
the jurisdiction of a single port
authority, the combined volume of
Johor Port and PTP (which are
administered by Johor Port
Authority), put Johor Port in the
world’s 19th position, marginally
ahead of Qingdao which leapt to 20th
position (from 25th it occupied in
1999).
Much
of this of course has been to the
spectacular growth of PTP.
Thus,
even without aggregating the traffic
of the two Johor-based ports, PTP is
well on the track to check the
ascension of Port Klang.
In
fact, further interest in the
ascension of Port Klang may have
just ended with the news that PTP
has clinched the Taiwanese owned
shipping line, Evergreen Line, that
is expected to contributed an
addition of about one million TEUs
to the robust Malaysian port that
has put up a sterling challenge to
indomitable Singapore.
PTP
with a volume of about two million
container last year expected to move
up the world port ranking and evoke
interest world-wide.
World
Port Ranking Chart
|
