Our ports stay shipshape

Shipping sector: (From left) Low, Subramaniam, Lee, Dr Wee, Azman Shah and Chong attending the 19th Asean Ports and Shipping Exhibition and Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

KUALA LUMPUR: Port Klang retained its position as the 12th busiest seaport in the world while Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Johor came in at 15th, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

In lauding the performance of the two ports, he said Malaysia is the second country after China to have two ports in the top 15.

Port Klang handled a record of 13.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2021, which is its best performance to date since container operations began in 1973.

Meanwhile, PTP saw a 14% increase in volume to achieve a record throughput of 11.2 million TEUs last year.

“If not for the floods, we would have been ahead of the Dubai Port,” he told the press at the 19th Asean Ports and Shipping Exhibition and Conference here yesterday.

Also present were Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Chong Sin Woon and general manager Capt K. Subramaniam, Port Klang Free Zone chairman Datuk Lawrence Low, Westports CEO Eddie Lee and Northport CEO Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof.

Dr Wee noted that only 20,000 TEUs separate Port Klang and the Dubai Port.

“Port Klang handles about 35,000 TEUs a day, so this is half a day’s work,” he said, adding that operations at Port Klang were disrupted when Klang was rocked by the devastating floods last December.

“We cannot avoid natural disasters, but it is still a magnificent feat and a record,” he said.

The Malaysian maritime industry contributes about 40% to the country’s gross domestic product, and more than 90% of Malaysia’s trade is seaborne.

To this, Dr Wee said the maritime transport industry, which is a key link in global supply chain, must keep up with emerging trends.

“The future landscape of maritime transport is one where innovative technology will spur digitalisation and automation, reducing not only costs but also the industry’s carbon footprint.

“With new, disruptive technologies transforming the global trade landscape, the maritime transport industry, as a critical link in the global supply chain, has to plug into the emerging trends in the transport ecosystem so as to keep pace with and be properly equipped to surmount threats,” he said in his keynote address.

The Covid-19 pandemic, said Dr Wee, had exposed vulnerabilities in the port and shipping ecosystem, with adaptability, resilience and sustainability issues being pushed to the forefront.

He said despite the better than average performance by the ports and shipping sectors, there still remained downside risks, including bottlenecks in the supply and logistics chain, rising costs as reflected by steep increases in freight and handling costs amid asymmetrical recovery, as well as the Omicron-induced new wave of Covid-19 infections.

Dr Wee emphasised it was important to ensure continuity in the supply chain, and industry players must be more agile and resilient in the face of crises.