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Demonstrating
its growing strength as an
important multi-purpose port,
Westport was last week handled a
car-carrier at its conventional
terminal at Pulau Indah in Port
Klang.
K
Line’s 1,800-unit capacity Ro-Ro
vessel ‘ Makassar Highway’
made her maiden call at the port
to discharge 62 units of vehicles
which included five units of
excavators, forklifts and
passenger light commercial
vehicles and loose packages of
heavy machinery parts for the
local market.
Discharged
vehicles are housed at
Westport’s Vehicle Terminal
Centre (VTC), a joint partnership
with K Line, KPB, NYK and Mitsui.
The VTC is South East Asia’s
most advanced smart car terminal,
employing an effective tracking
system at the terminal as well as
on the vessel to provide accurate
and on the spot information to
customers.
To
mark the event, mementos were
exchanged between Capt Jose T
Benigno Jr, Master of the ship,
Chai Lih Yunn, General Manager of
Westport Conventional Terminal and
N Uchiyama, General Manager (Car
Carrier Division) ‘K’ Line Pte
Ltd.
Also
present to witness the ceremony
were Mr Robert Lim, Managing
Director ‘K’ Line Maritime (M)
Sdn Bhd, and Assistant Manager
(Car Carrier Division) ‘K’
Line Pte Ltd H Yoshida.
Speaking
at the ceremony, Chai said he was
excited with the close working
relationship Westport shared with
K Line and was confident it would
continue to grow in mutual
understanding and rewards.
He
said “K Line Ro-Ro vessels call
Westport regularly and to date a
total of 31 vessels have called
Westport this year, including at
the container terminal, where K
Line calls with its consortium
partners Cosco and Yang Ming on a
weekly service plying the Far East
Mediterranean route (AMX
Service)”.
The
Makassar Highway plies the
Japan-Asia Service and provides
its customers with faster service
(at about 20-knot speed) which
will shorten transit time as well
as stabilize service schedule in
the region.
Robert
Lim explained that the 70 tons
safe working load (S.W.L.) of the
rampway and 4.6 Meters height
clearance places the vessel among
the class of superior car carriers
that transport heavy machinery.
The
vessel is also equipped with
‘liftable’ decks to meet the
increased demand for height
space”. ‘K’ Line has also
introduced the Damage-Free
Program, Flow stowage System and
Computerized Planning of Stowage
Layouts which have vastly reduced
the incidence of cargo damage.
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