Transport Ministry to support expansion of ports
The Star (Page 4)
ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Transport Ministry will support efforts of port operators who want to expand their capacity as a way to stay competitive with other regional ports.
Its minister Anthony Loke said that the move is in line with the current trend in the shipping industry whereby the size and capacity of ships have increased significantly over the years.
“With the increase in the size of ships in the shipping industry, we have to also catch up with the progress by expanding our ports in order to better cater to future demand.
“This in not a short-term plan and a lot of process have to take place for the expansion but we understand the need and would speed up the process,” he said.
He said this during a press conference after witnessing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing between port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd and Terberg Tractors Malaysia Sdn Bhd on autonomous terminal tractor project.
He added that other regional ports are also expanding in order to stay competitive in the fast paced industry.
“Neighboring countries, including Singapore and Indonesia are also expanding their ports or building mega ports as a way to allow bigger ships to anchor at their ports,” he said.
He added that at the moment, PTP has the capacity of handling some nine million containers annually.