Westport has attributed additional services introduced by existing lines and new joint services as the main driver behind its impressive record of 2.12 million TEUs handled for the period of January to October 2004 compared to 1.91 million TEUs for the same period last year, representing a growth of 11% in total.

Westport executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam said the growth was very much in line with the tremendous boom in East- and West-bound trade and was reflected in all key sectors for the January - October period of this year. "The port is IT driven and its operational efficiency is impressive at productivity rates of between 30 and 32 moves per hour, which is a significant contributor to its healthy growth."

One of the particularly booming sectors is the handling of local boxes, with its volume of 711,949 TEUs that was handled at Westport indicating a remarkable increase of 16% compared to last year's figure of 613,978 for the same period."This surge in volume is attributed mainly to the increase in the import laden and repositioning of transhipment boxes."Many shipping lines are now using Westport as a hub for redistribution to Bangkok, Yangon and Jakarta," said Gnanalingam.

"The impact of globalisation on the world economy has brought tremendous increases in the exchange of goods throughout the world especially in sea borne trade. "As a mega transhipment hub, the exponential growth of world trade has resulted in increased transhipment volumes at Westport," he said. Besides external factors, Gnanalingam also cited the port's increased efficiency, high productivity and fast turnaround time as being crucial for the port's sustained growth.

"Transhipment volume for the first 10 months of the year was recorded at 1.27 million TEUs. "Along with the positive growth of box volumes, the number of vessels that were calling on the port has also seen an increase with 3,638 vessels, both main line and regional liners, berthed at Westport for the same period. "Conventional volume contributed a 30% increase in the break-bulk area," said Gnanalingam, adding that the total break bulk volume handled for the last 10 months increased from 1.33 million mt in 2003 to 1.73 million mt this year. "The healthy growth of this sector is attributed to the rising need for scrap and mixed steel.

"As at October, Westport handled 93,714 RORO (Roll On Roll Off) units as compared to 86,135 units in 2003, an increment of 9%," he said. "With the excellent growth achieved to date, Westport Malaysia is right on track to chalk up another record year of double-digit growth."

The Star,Dated 29.11.2004