BASED on its performance in the first half of this year, Westport will be on track to record another double-digit growth for year 2004.Container traffic at the port in Pulau Indah, Port Klang, recorded a 10.5 per cent growth totalling 1.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first half of this year.

A total of 19 new services started in the first half of this year.China Shipping Container Lines has added three new services and CMA, Norasia, Goldstar, United Arab Shipping Co, Lloyds Triestino, Regional Container Line, OOCL, MSC and Johan Shipping also mounted additional services during the January-June period of 2004.

The port aims to surpass the five-million TEU mark by 2008. Currently, CMA, Hanjin Shipping, Ever green, Norasia, Gold Star and China Shipping Container Lines and Gemartrans are the major seven carriers that have largely fostered the growth of the port.These seven carriers handled in access of 1. 7 million TEU s, or close to 75 per cent of the Westport container traffic in 2003 totalling 2.3 million TEUs.CMA, the single biggest client, lifted a total of 600,000 TEU s last year. This was followed by China Shipping Container Line, which handled 250,000 TEUs, and Evergreen with 230,000 TEUs last year. Recently, the port announced it was recording crane productivity of 30-32 moves per hour and targeting 35 moves per crane/hour.The other attraction that is going to spur Westport growth is the 404ha Free Trade Zone site at Pulau lndah, which is scheduled to start operation within the next two years.