The arrival of the 8,500-TEU CSCL Europe at Westport last week reaffirmed Port Klang's status as one of the world's major ports that can handle 5th generation vessels.
The largest-ever container vessel to call at Port Klang, the CSCL Europe berthed at Westport at 4.30pm on Wednesday, heralding a new era for the port which can now host the next generation of ships with the capacity to carry 8,500 TEUs. Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam said the arrival of the Europe meant that Westport was more than capable of handling ships of larger sizes. "We can even handle ships in excess of 14,000 TEUs.
"China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) will be coming out with newer and newer series of ships in the near future. After this, they will be introducing a 9,400-TEU series followed by a 10,500-TEU series of ships," he said. Gnanalingam said Westport did not foresee any problems in handling the ships that were coming in as they had all the necessary equipment and machines to deal with them.
"We will not even have to dredge any deeper as ships these days are being designed with flatter hulls which, at most, are at around 15m," he said, explaining that Westport's wharf depth of 15.5m was more than sufficient to accommodate the new generation vessels. He described CSCL's use of Westport as its hub as a good sign for the port's future. "China's strong trade links with Malaysia is a favourable sign for Malaysian ports overall," he added.
Arriving from Hong Kong, the Europe is second in CSCL's 8,500-TEU series after the CSCL Asia, with another three vessels of identical specifications expected to be put into operation by the end of this year. Capable of carrying a payload of 8,468 TEUs in total, the Europe which will next be making its way to Felixstowe, will be serving the Far-East - Europe Line Service and will call at harbours such as Qingdao, Shanghai, Yantian, Hong Kong, Westport, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp, among others.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said for the first eight months of this year, Port Klang's container throughput has recorded double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. "A total of 20 new services were secured via Port Klang during the first and second quarter of this year. Out of this, Westport secured 8 new services comprising six mainline and two feeders," he said, after touring the vessel. China Shipping (Group) president Capt. Li Kelin said Port Klang enjoyed a good geographical location and was therefore suitable to be the last Asian port of call on the westbound Asia-Europe service and the first port of call on the eastbound.
At 334 metres in length, built with a draft of 14.5 metres, and with a dead weight tonnage (dwt) of 99,500, the Europe's gargantuan dimensions are matched only by its 'appetite'. The ship guzzles approximately 200,000 tonnes of petrol per day at a daily cost of US$40,000 to CSCL just for fuel alone. Over 3,877 of the 8,468 TEUs are kept in hold while the remaining 4,591 were stacked on deck. It is also equipped with 700 reefer points.
Manned by 22 crewmen and captained by Capt. N. Mavropoulous, the Europe which is registered under the Cyprus flag is said to be, in a large part computerised and represents state-of-the-art standards of international container transportation.
"The smooth berthing of the CSCL Europe at Westport and the efficient handling services the ship tells of yet another success story of the strong partnership between carriers and ports," he said. CSCL's AEX-1, AEX-2, AMX and RTW services all call at Port Klang bringing its volume to around 200,000 TEUs in the first half of the year. In addition to these services, many slot-exchange partner services and self-operated or partner-operated container feeder services include a call at this port. "This way, we have built a fairly complete container shipping network in the Southeast Asia region. "We aim to reach the annual volume of half a million TEUs by the end of this year," he said.
The Star, 13 September 2004 |
