Massive Expansion Planned For Malaysia

Malaysia’s two main container ports, Port Klang and Port Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), are to be expanded. While the moves reflect the country’s growing traffic volumes, the plans also reflect their potential to attract more regional cargo, on account of their position in relation to the main east-west shipping channel.

At Port Klang, a third box handling complex is under study, with a site on Carey Island, which is located between the Malacca Strait and Port Klang, the preferred choice of the Malaysia Government.

The administration is also keen to work with the Chinese on the project. Malaysia’s transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, explained; “Malaysia is willing to actively join and participate in China’s belt and road initiative. We believe a new port could become an important part of this, and with some 70% to 80% of ships passing through the Strait of Malacca coming from China, there is a relatively large volume of cargo available for the port.”

He claimed that Port Klang’s current throughput capacity of 16.3M TEU would be fully utilised by 2020, and that new capacity was needed.

Meanwhile, PTP is determined to consolidate its position in the regional transhipment sector and intends investing RM8.6B on a mix of refurbishment and expansion programmes. Potentially, it will raise the southern Malaysia port’s handling capacity by at least 12M TEU over the next 15 year.

Mohamed Khalid bin Nordin, chief minister of the Malaysian state of Johor, referred to the expansion plan as “reflecting the highest level of confidence by the port operator to position itself as the preferred port of choice in the region.”

But management at PTP also want to ensure that the port has the facilities in place to accommodate even bigger ships.

The minister announced details of the expansion plan during a recent official visit to the port, and said it comprised two phase:

• Upgrading, refurbishing and / or replacing some of the port’s existing quay cranes and RTGs. This would be completed within three years and raise PTP’s current throughput capacity of 10.5M TEU/year to 13.5M TEU/year.

• Embark on phase three of PTP’s development plan. Work will commence in 2048/19 and be undertaken in two stages. It will involve the construction of six berths (3 km of quay line) and add approximately 9M TEU of annual handling capacity.

At the end of 2015, PTP’s quay line totalled approximately 5 km (14 berths), and it handled just over 9M TEU.