PORT KLANG, the national maritime gateway, will be on an active expansion mode this year with a total investment of RM1.38bil.

One of its two ports, Westports (M) Sdn Bhd, has embarked on an RM800mil three-year expansion programme last year.

Executive chairman Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam said the expansion, to cater for increasing throughput at the port, include the construction of container terminal five (CT5) to boost annual capacity by about 30%.

“Westports will spend RM460mil for its first phase of expansion scheduled for completion by year-end,” he told StarBiz.

He said the first 300m of CT5 would be completed by April and the remaining half by the end of this year.

In terms of equipment, Gnanalingam said Westports expected to operate 34 quay cranes, including 12 twin lift cranes, by year-end.

“We also plan to add 102 rubber-tyre gantry cranes, 272 prime movers, 290 trailers and 25 stackers this year,” he said.

The other terminal in Port Klang, Northport (M) Bhd, has also announced a RM585mil expansion plan last year.

Managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Basheer Hassan Abdul Kader said the bulk of the allocation was to finance the development of the Berth 8A container terminal (CT3).

“With the development of CT3 and the re-development of the break bulk terminal for container handling, the container quay line (including CT1 and CT2 and CT3) will run linearly to 3.2km,” he said.

He added that the tender for the construction of the new berth would be issued soon.

Basheer said the CT3 would serve ultra-size container ships (up to 12,000 TEUs) and would be supported by three super-post panamax cranes capable of lifting two 40-foot containers or four 20-foot containers in one move.

“The quay line at CT3 will initially serve one ultra-large container ship at a time and it can be extended to handle more of such vessels when the need arises,” he said.

Port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP), meanwhile, will construct two new berths, Berth 11 and 12, this year.

PTP chief executive officer Harun Johari said this would increase PTP's terminal handling capacity from eight million TEUs to 10 million TEUs.

“We will also expand the container yard. We also expect the delivery of port equipment ordered last year that includes twin-lift quay cranes, double-hoist quay cranes and rubber-tyre gantry cranes,” he said.

Penang Port Sdn Bhd, a feeder port that aims to be a hub port serving the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle, is also embarking on an RM850mil expansion plan.

North Butterworth general manager for container terminal strategic business unit Obaid Mansor said the port would expand its terminal capacity with related equipment and infrastructures.

“The construction of our new wharf, which will start this year till 2011, will cost about RM600mil while additional equipment will cost about RM250mil.

“Growth will be propelled by the Northern Corridor Economic Region and supported by the port’s focus in building up cargo mass through strategic initiatives and inducing direct call vessels,” he said.

Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB) also planned to roll out its expansion plan by increasing its capacity to 600,000 TEUs by 2011 from the current 328,900 TEUs.

A company official told StarBiz that the increased capacity would see the development of Bintulu International Container Terminal yard and a 200-meter berth.

He said construction work on the container yard and berth were expected to start in 2009 and completed by early 2011.

“Bintulu Port is developing a 10,000-sq-m container freight station, which is expected to be ready by end-2009.

“Also in the pipeline include procurement of handling equipment such as container quay crane and other yard equipment to boost handling capacity and efficiency of the terminal.”



By Sharidan M. Ali
The Star, 11.02.2008