PTP volumes increasing rapidly
Containerisation International
Container volumes at the Malaysian transhipment hub, Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), continue to rise. Port officials recently stated that third quarter 2001 carryings were 560,000 TEU compared to 541,000 TEU in the previous quarter. Productivity has also increased to 28 gross moves per hour per crane in the same period.
PTP handled 418000 TEU in 2000, its first full year of operations, but direct year-on-year comparisons are difficult, as its strategic partner Maersk Sealand only moved the bulk of its services from Singapore at the end of 2000.
Five super post panamax cranes, the largest ever to be installed in South East Asia, and 15 RTGs have been ordered to cope with the increased traffic, and all should be operational by the end of March 2002.
PTP CEO, Mohd Sidik, commented, “PTP’s growth in volume reflects strong user confidence and we are increasing all measures to secure new users to the terminal.” Sidik claimed that the port is on course to handle 2 million TEU by the end of 2001.