For his effort, Chua Cheng Hock, who is working at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) here, won the Best Practice Awards 2006, an annual contest organised by the APM Terminals group, the world's third largest port operator.
Speaking to Bernama, Chua said his programme, which he named "Berth Optimizer", was developed using the software platform of Microsoft Office Excel, a spreadsheet program.
Using the programme features like intuitive interface, graphics and calculation tools, Chua was able to design a new programme that could calculate the optimal vessel berthing location.
Chua said it took him about six months to write the programme, which was now being developed to be implemented at all the APM Terminals operations worldwide.
"Unlike the traditional method where vessel berthing which is decided based on the space available at the port, Chua's programme helps to direct vessels nearest to their cargo at the yards and thereby optimizing its berthing location," said PTP senior general manager, operations, Martijn van de Linde.
"By directing the vessels straight to their cargo, port operators can minimize truck driving distances and shorten the turnaround time from the yard to the berth," he said.
"For PTP, which has a quay length of about 2.8 kilometres and handles thousands of containers a day, Chua's programme will help reduce the containers' travelling distance from the yard to the vessel by several hundred metres per container," he added.
PTP chief executive officer Harun Johari, commenting on Chua's achievement, said the program directly increased productivity as truck driving distances will be shorter, resulting in vessels being able to minimize berthing time.
The shorter driving distances and turnaround time meant savings on fuel, maintenance and labour cost for ports, he said.
Harun said the company was proud of Chua's achievement, adding that it has always been PTP's policy to
develop its internal human resources.
Chua joined PTP three years ago after graduating with a degree in maritime management from the Science and Technology University College of Malaysia in Terengganu.
He is the eldest of three children in his family, and his father works as a rice salesman in Johor Baharu.
Chua said the training provided by the PTP management has significantly increased his knowledge, resulting in him being able to create the programme.
He also thanked his superiors for all their help and support.