PTP surpasses volume forecast
Containerisation International
Malaysia’s growing transshipment hub, Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), handled a total of 2.05 million TEU in 2001, surpassing even its own healthy forecast throughput of 1 million TEU for the year. This represents a five-fold increase over the 418,000TEU carried in 2000, although official operations only commenced in March 2000. The majority of this volume is Maersk Sealand traffic. The ocean carrier moved from Singapore in late 2000, also taking a 30% stake in PTP.
Sidik Shaik Osman, CEO of PTP, state: ‘This volume is a reflection of PTP’s resilience in facing the current economic outlook. Although the shipping and port sector has seen volumes drop, PTP’s exceeding its targets can be attributed to the increasing local cargo through PTP both from the port free zone are and the local hinterland.
PTP’s volumes may grow further if Evergreen transfers its services from Singapore. No official announcement has yet been made, but it appears increasingly likely.