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The
vast prospects expected from the
development of the
Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines
Growth Area prompted the Taiwan
based Evergreen, a world leading
independent container shipping line,
to take the head-start in providing
the first direct mainline service
out of Bintulu Port in Sarawak.
Disclosing
this, the general manager of
Evergreen Marine Corporation (M) Sdn
Bhd, the general agents for the
Taiwanese shipping lines, Lee Hock
Saing said the time was right (for
Evergreen) to start a long haul
containerised vessel service calling
direct at Bintulu “which we did on
the 24th July last year.”
The line deploys three 1100 TEU
vessels offering a weekly every
Tuesday call at the recently-opened
Bintulu International Container
Terminal offering direct
containerised vessel service ex
Bintulu to
Manila, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
”With this service we are also
able to offer service to USA /
Canada/ Europe via Kaohsiung ,
Japan / Korea via Taichung , PRC via
Hong Kong,” Lee added.
Lee who was speaking at a trade and
shipping conference in Bintulu last
week said instead of importing /
exporting containerised cargo via
the usual transhipment hub i.e
Singapore, Port Klang , Jakarta ,
Surabaya, there is now a nearer
transhipment hub at Bintulu
International Container which is
ocated centrally in the BIMP - EAGA
region.
He felt the location of Bintulu port
may serve as a nearer transhipment
hub to import or export the
merchandise of the shippers and may
well result in cheaper
transportation cost due to the sole
reason being reduction in distance.
Lee said reduction in transportation
distance might lead to faster
shipment of cargo as well as
increase in the volume of cargo
moved since shipments would be more
competitive.
He urged greater coordination among
the four member countries of the
BIMP-EAGA to designate a suitable
transshipment hub for the region
“instead of each of the four
countries investing in new port
terminals, establishing and
promoting 15 ports to act as
transshipment hubs.”
”We feel that it would be more
practical if the number of the
transhipment hub can be shortlisted
base on an independent consultant's
recommendation after taking all
factors into consideration and that
some of the efforts and resources
can be channelled to promote more
feeder linkages,” he said.
Lee also wanted assistance to be
considered for MLO's and feeder
operators who stick out their neck
to start a new service linking BIMP
– EAGA region.
“To
start a new service in a new area,
there is an investment cost to the
vessel operator to promote growth in
the first two years hoping that
there would be light at the end of
the tunnel thereafter and the
continued eventual growth will pay
off the investment,” he said.
“Whatever
assistance that the relevant
government authorities and port
terminal operators can render to the
vessel operators are crucial in
creating a conducive environment for
a vessel operator to launch a new
service in a new area,” he noted.
Meanwhile,
Evergreen Marine is reported to have
firmed up its plans to move its
Southeast Asia transshipment base in
Singapore to Pelabuhan Tanjung
Pelepas, in Johore.
The
group chairman, Chang Yung-Fa is
reported to have confirmed about the
switch to Tanjung Pelepas in an
interview with the Japanese press.
Chang
said: “We have formally decided on
that shift.”
In
October Evergreen announced that it
signed a memorandum of understanding
with Tanjung Pelepas on shifting its
annual volumes of 1.2 million TEUs
from Singapore from August this
year.
Evergreen
would be the second major shipping
line to quit PSA Corporation's
terminals in Singapore, following
PTP stakeholder Maersk Sealand at
the beginning of 2001.
Cost
would appear to be the issue
involved in Evergreen's planned
switch.
According
to the report, Chang is reported to
have cited cost being the main
consideration for the shipping
line’s move to PTP.
Charges
for Tanjung Pelepas, said Chang are
more than 50 per cent lower than
those in Singapore.
Our
company has annually handled about
1.2m teu of container cargoes in
Singapore, so the difference between
the two ports amounts to as much as
US$200m or so,” Chang was quoted
as saying.
“At
a time when the environment for our
management is becoming increasingly
severe, we have been forced to
decide on the shift of the hub port
in consideration of its effects on
our earnings position,” he
said.
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