The performance has made PTP the closest Malaysian competitor to rival Singapore.

 

Chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said there will be no let-up in PTP’s quest to position itself as the premier regional transhipment hub.

 

“We will continue to target aggressive growth, especially with the expected completion of an additional 720 metres of wharf early this year,” he said in a statement released yesterday.

 

Most of PTP’s throughput last year came from transhipment containers, accounting for 3.33 million TEUs, while the rest comprised local cargo.

 

October was a good month for PTP in terms of achievements as it recorded an all-time monthly high of 332,314 TEUs.

 

More container vessels called at PTP last year. The port responded to 3,148 calls in total, which accounted for a 26.6 per cent rise over the previous year’s.

 

This was attributed partly to an increase in gross crane productivity, from 31 moves per hour (mph) in 2002 to 32.4 mph last year, and the introduction of a satellite-guided yard crane system that allows cranes to be automatically steered.

 

Last year, PTP’s Free Zone wrested from Singapore the Asian regional parts distribution centre of luxury carmaker BMW Group, whose new facility is expected to be operational by the middle of this year.

 

PTP also secured German international logistics services provider Schenker AG’s commitment to set up a distribution centre at its distripark, which has been operating since April last year.