Evergreen to shift operations to PTP
New Straits Times
THURS: EVERGREEN Marine Corporation of Taiwan, the second biggest shipping line in the world, has confirmed it will shift its operations to Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) from Singapore.
"Evergreen service calls at PTP are expected to commence during the third quarter of 2002," said both companies in a joint statement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Both parties signed a terminal service agreement on Monday. The one-sentence statement gave no details of container volumes involved or the value of the deal.
Evergreen and its subsidiary, Uniglory, carry 1.2 million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs) through Singapore annually. The shift to PTP would save them costs of up to NT$200 million (RM21.66 million), said analysts.
Evergreen is no stranger to Malaysia. Uniglory was the first regional mainline to call at Pasir Gudang Port in Johor while PTP is now a leader in container shipping in the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia.
Evergreen recently made a maiden call at the Bintulu International Container Terminal in Sarawak.
Analysts said Evergreen's move to PTP would deal another blow to Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), which lost its biggest customer Maersk Sealand to PTP in 2000. Maersk of Denmark also took a 30 per cent stake in the port operator's equity for some RM800 million.
The investment by Maersk ensures that the port has the expertise to handle even the largest vessels. Some of Maersk's vessels can carry 6,800 TEUs and they are among the largest container vessels in the world.
Analysts said the Evergreen deal would result in a spin off of activities for PTP as well as enable it to take a lead role in the industry. PSA operates the world's largest container transhipment hub in Singapore where 250 shipping lines connect PSA to 600 ports in 123 countries worldwide.
The port authority said the departure by Evergreen was not expected to have a significant impact on PSA's financial performance as PSA has a diversified customer base and a growing global market with its participation in 13 overseas port projects in eight countries — Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, South Korea, Portugal and Yemen.
PTP, under its first phase expansion plan, will have 24 quay cranes, some equipped with double spreaders to speed the vessels" turnaround time following an investment of RM2.4 billion.
The container yard, with capacity of some 110,000 TEUs, is capable of handling any surge in traffic. The current capacity of around five million containers will see PTP fast gaining recognition. It will also develop new support services for the maritime sector, including research and development.