New CEO to oversee RM1.4bil expansion of Malaysia's largest container terminal operator

 

PETALING JAYA: Newly appointed chief executive officer of Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) Glen Hilton will oversee a RM1.4bil expansion plan of the country's largest container terminal operator.

"The container port business is highly competitive as regional ports are also expanding their capacity and stepping up their level of services to customers. Hilton will deploy his wealth of experience in bringing operational best practices from a global perspective to PTP and oversee the successful commissioning of our expansion programme. This expansion will ensure that we enhance our value proposition to existing and new customers," chairman Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said in a statement.

The expansion involves building two new berths, three blocks of containers yards, purchase of new cranes and electrifying existing rubber-tyred gantries.

The port operator said construction works on the new berths measuring 720m had already started and slated for completion in May 2014.

"The expansion will raise PTP's annual handling capacity by 25% to 10.5 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) and increase the number of berths to 14 with total quay length of 5km. The expansion will complete Phase 2 of PTP's master plan.

PTP's new berths and new equipment will be able to handle the Maersk Line Triple-E vessels, a new generation container ships with 18,000 TEUs capacity. PTP is one of six ports (the others are Felixstowe, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Yantian, Shanghai and Ningbo) selected by Maersk Line for its "Daily Maersk" programme.

In 2012, PTP handled 7.7 million TEUs of containers, consolidating its position as the largest container terminal in Malaysia. It is targeting a volume growth of about 6% this year, bringing annual TEUs to above eight million.