WANTING to do his best earned him a proud honour amongst his peers.

Recently, quay crane operator Azmi Ashaari was given the moniker "Westport's Hero" when he managed to achieve a remarkable 72 moves per hour (mph) on board the mv Johan Amber.

"It was never my ambition to move so many containers in one hour and I have always been interested in performing to the best of my abilities.

"This achievement took me quite by surprise. I just came into work, did what I had to do, and before I knew it, I had moved 72 boxes in one hour," the 36-year-old father of one said.

Azmi from Slim River, Perak, credited the 20 prime movers with helping him achieve this personal feat.

"There are days when it takes more than an hour to move 50 boxes because the prime movers that were to take the boxes away were only trickling in one by one.

"As the prime movers are the vital link in the movement of containers, it is up to them to determine how fast the quay crane operators can move the boxes.

"On the day that I achieved my record, there were 20 prime movers lined up waiting to take away the containers.

"As I didn't want to keep them waiting, I just worked as fast as I could to meet their demands," Azmi explained.

Another point that Azmi, who was originally a prime mover driver and a rubber tyre gantry operator, stressed is the training that he underwent prior to becoming a quay crane operator.

"When I was given the position of quay crane operator, I had an initial three-month training period, as I've never done this kind of work before.

"However, I asked my supervisor to extend it by another three months, giving a total training period of six months, by which time I was more comfortable with my new duties," he said.

By asking for an extension of his training period also rewarded Azmi with the accolade of having zero accidents during his four years as a quay crane operator, which is an incredible feat, considering he operates from 106 metres above the ground.

"It can be a bit frightening working from such a high distance, especially when it rains, but you get used to it.

"There is Perspex flooring inside the quay crane, so I am able to see the containers being loaded onto the prime movers," he said, adding that he is able to discharge containers from the vessel and place them onto the prime movers in 30 seconds.

Azmi also credits Westport's team building campaign towards his success at work.

"Westport emphasises greatly on team work, and this has helped make work a lot easier as I am amongst friends, who I now consider as my brothers.

"There is a very close bond between us now, regardless of our age and race, and this closeness has made us all more productive.

"Because of this, I want to give Westport my best effort and I want to excel in everything I am assigned to.

"I am very glad that many of my peers have the same positive attitude as me, and many of us are now able to easily achieve 30mph without difficulty," said Azmi.

"I believe that Westport will be able to meet the 2.5 million TEU quota by the end of the year.

"When Westport moved 2 million containers last year, it was not only Tan Sri G Gnanalingam who was proud; everyone of us who's involved in the port - from the workers in the wharf to the managers - were happy," he added.

K Govindrajo, who worked alongside the same vessel as Azmi, recorded 71mph, and Badli Salleh was credited with 70mph while working on the mv Hatsu Pride last July.