PUTRAJAYA: Northport (M) Bhd expects rising import volume to continue supporting its conventional cargo volume going forward, while the port buckles up to receive more vessel diversion due to global geopolitical tensions.
Chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof said the ongoing geopolitical tensions have resulted in logjams at Singapore Port, the second busiest port in the world.
“There were service diversions at the port due to congestion in the nearby port of Singapore. We did more than 171 ad hoc calls at Northport.
“At the same time, thanks to concurrent economy activities, we’re seeing a lot more import containers coming in,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the International Conference on Maritime Logistics and Ports 2024 here.
Azman Shah also said the port operator is ready to take advantage of any disruptions in the global supply chain, given that it has extended its capacity and capability to handle the sudden surge of vessels and cargo volume.
“Northport has embarked on expansion before Covid-19, where we did a lot of capital expenditure, in which we enhanced our yard capacity. So, immediately, we had half a million additional twenty-foot equivalent unit. We bought 34 rubber-treated gantry cranes so that we can operate more efficiently,” he added.
From January to August 2024, Northport received 171 ad-hoc calls and welcomed 13 new services at its port and it is expected to receive an additional 12 units of E-RTGs in 2025.
The new container yard, Block K, partially operational and expected to be fully completed this month, significantly contributed to the higher volume in August.
Separately, vessel diversions at major seaports had also affected smaller portsincluding the Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) in Sabah.
SBCP is the transhipment hub for the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean growth area.
The Red Sea crisis had led to vessel bunching due to arrival delays, leading to longer wait times when anchoring for berth space.
The situation had contributed to high yard utilisation. SBCP experienced an 18% growth in containers versus last year.
In early July, SBCP’s yard utilisation reached almost 100%. It has dropped to 64% due to measures implemented such as higher container stacking, reorganising of the current layout to optimise operations and raising manpower to clear vessel backlogs that occurred in early July.
A source close to the port operator said improvements are needed to better synchronise the cargo clearance network, particularly after normal working hours.
