THE number of containers handled by Westport hit a record high in March, boosting total throughput for the first quarter of this year to 565,917 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 18.3% from the corresponding period of last year.

According to a statement from Westport operator Klang Multi Terminal Sdn Bhd yesterday, 207,470 TEUs were handled in March alone, the highest monthly figure recorded by Westport to date.

In terms of traffic profile, the port handled a total of 373,323 TEUs of transhipment cargo during the first quarter.

The rest were local boxes, which also saw some increase, reversing the downtrend experienced in the last three quarters in terms of local cargo.

Klang Multi Terminal general manager for container services Lt Col (Ret) Vincent Lim said Westport also saw a slight increase in the number of ships calling there.

In the first three months of the year, 989 vessels, both main line operators and feeders, visited Westport.

However, he said the bulk of the increase in TEUs came from existing shipping lines using Westport as their preferred port to handle their cargo.

Lim said three major shipping lines - CMA-CGM (Compagnie Maritime D' Affrement Compagnie Generale Maritime), China Shipping Line and Goldstar - together accounted for 290,873 TEUs.

"CMA-CGM alone brought in 147,193 TEUs," he said.

Lim said the first quarter also saw two new lines visiting Westport more frequently. Johan Shipping, which plies to east Malaysia, brought in 3,366 TEUs, up from 29 TEUs in the previous quarter, while Mediterranean Shipping Co handled 4,232 TEUs.

"From the strong growth trend to date, I think we can expect to easily meet the initial projected volume of 2.4 million TEUs this year," he said.

When contacted by StarBiz, Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam said the growth of container throughput at Westport could be attributed to an increase in exports to Europe, the United States and China.

"Our transhipment traffic has also been quite high. Large number of boxes now bypass Singapore and are directly shipped out from Port Klang," he said, adding that transhipment traffic accounted for 70% of total container volume at Westport.

He said the projected volume of 2.4 million TEUs for this year could be achieved as monthly volume was expected to hit the 200,000-TEU mark with further growth expected towards the end of the year. Last year Westport handled 2.05 million TEUs, up from 1.45 million in 2001.

Gnanalingam said Wesport planned to increase its cargo handling capacity with the development of an additional 2.4km of berth length, of which the first 600m would be completed by June next year.

The total cost of Westport's expansion is expected to be RM1.5bil: RM800mil for the additional 2.4km of berth and RM700mil for additional equipment.

Meanwhile, Northport, Port Klang's other container terminal, recorded a throughput of 586,504 TEUs for the first quarter of the year with 1,350 ship calls.

The quarter also saw Evergreen, China Ocean Shipping Co, Wan Hai Lines and Hapag Lloyd launching a new express service to cover South-East Asia, the Red Sea and the Indian sub-continent, with each of the lines deploying one vessel.

One of the vessels, L.T. Power, made its maiden call to Northport on March 21.