PORTS should establish alliances with major shipping lines to face challenges and changing shipping trends globally, Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G Gnanalingam said.

He said ports should provide priority berthing or dedicated berth and offer joint venture projects to stay ahead with the current competition. "Besides this, terminals should strengthen feeder network, improve the operational capacity and efficiency, berth capacity and system used to cater larger vessels," he said, in an interview when commenting on the scenario of ships getting bigger and bigger, lines merging and calling at fewer ports. "As ships are getting bigger and lines merging, ports should extend in the regional feeder as this happens.

"This will allow big ships to discharge boxes here and have it feeder to regional ports mainly Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India Sub continent. "Ports should be supply driven by extending extra wharf length, enhance the operational resources like equipments and processes so the vessel turnaround time will be faster, thus savings to the customers," he said.

On the development of China's fast economic and port developments, Gnanalingam said the growth in China augurs well for Malaysia because with affluence they may be buying more of Malaysian goods. He said ports catered to the inflow and outflow of goods in any country and as such, Chinese ports are not in competition with Malaysian ports.

"We are however in competition for container boxes and slots on shipping lines. "If the yield in China is better than Malaysia it terms of freight rates, shipping lines gives priority to Chinese ports." On the competition and threat constantly posed by Singapore ports, Gnanalingam said Singapore ports were never a threat to Malaysian ports.

"They were mainly providing facilities for shipping lines and the same was limited to Malaysian ports. "Today more and more shipping lines are making direct calls to Malaysia especially Port Klang for direct connection to our major trading partners. "The others are transhipping to make connections out of Singapore. As such Singapore only compliments and supplements the limitations in Malaysian ports," he said.

Gnanalingam, who is the president of the Federation of Malaysian Port Operating Companies, said since the formation of FMPOC especially in the last 2 years, they had several meetings and dialogue sessions with the Transport Minister and other government bodies and they have put forward joint proposals.

The Star, 6 September 2004