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The
first dedicated container terminal
on the Borneo island in Bintulu,
Sarawak will be officially open by
the Deputy Transport Minister, Tan
Sri Datuk Seri DiRaja Ramli Ngah
Talib on 15 January 2002.
The
gateway terminal built at a cost of
about RM250 million expects to tap
into the maturing container market
in the
Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines
East Asia Growth Area by offering
itself as transshipment hub port for
the region.
The
Bintulu International Container
Terminal (BICT), owned and operated
by the public-listed Bintulu Port
Sdn Bhd, is the only terminal on the
Borneo island which has post-panamax
cranes and has a capacity to handle
more than 200,000 TEUs per annum.
Last
year it handled about 65,000 TEUs,
more than twice the volume of
containers in handled in 2000, the
first year of its full operation.
BICT
is strategically located at the
doorstep of BIMP-EAGA (Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines
East Asia Growth Area) which covers
a geographical area of more than
690,000 square kilometers and a
market base of more than 55 million
potential consumers.
The
region is rich in natural resources
and provides tremendous business and
investment opportunities. It is
estimated that the region generated
about 150 million FWT and 1.4
million TEUs in 2001.
In
a significant breakthrough, BICT won
over its first direct mainline
service with the entry of the
Taiwanese owned Evergreen line.
Evergreen
one of the world’s largest
independent container shipping lines
has deployed mother vessels on a
direct call to BICT.
The
fixed-day weekly service with three
-1,100 TEUs capacity ships calls
BICT every Tuesday for Manila,
Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In
addition there is a growing network
of feeder services linking BICT with
ports in the region.
The
450-metre container terminal offers
1,812 total ground slots and capable
of handling 181,000 TEUs per annum.
BICT
freight station covers an area of
66,450 square metres areas with more
than 80 reefer points.
With
first class facilities and strategic
location in the Peninsular
Malaysia-Singapore-Sarawak-Brunei-Sabah
shipping route, BICT has the
necessary ingredient and is well
positioned to become an important
transshipment hub of BIMP-EAGA
region.
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