Pelepas chief executive officer Mohd Sidik Osman said the achievement was a reflection of PTP's resilience in the face of the current economic downturn, which has depressed container volumes worldwide.

 

'Although the shipping and port sector has seen volumes drop, PTP's exceeding of its targets can be attributed to the increasing local cargo through PTP both from the port free zone area and the local hinterland,' said Mr Sidik.

 

PTP's gains were also Singapore's loss, as an estimated 1.8 million TEUs of PTP's total throughput was won over from Singapore's PSA Corporation when its largest customer - Maersk Sealand - shifted its transhipment hub from PSA to PTP starting from the third quarter 2000.

 

But while local cargo volumes helped boost PTP's final tally, an estimated 30 per cent of PTP's hinterland cargo still ships through Singapore's PSA terminals, according to Malaysian Transport Ministry parliamentary secretary Donald Lim.

 

'Some businessmen still have the pre-conceived idea that the Singapore port is much more efficient in handling their goods although large shipping companies have good things to say about Malaysian ports,' Mr Lim said at a reception commemorating the recent maiden call of Hapag-Lloyd's new ultra-large containership, the Hamburg Express.

 

But while PTP continues to enjoy steep volume gains, a recent United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific (Escap) report noted that while, 'Tanjung Pelepas has the potential to build a very strong trans-shipment business ... it is unlikely to pose a major threat to the dominance of Singapore within the forecast period.'

 

The Escap study forecasts throughput at PTP to grow to 4.5 million TEUs by 2011 - of which more than 80 per cent will be trans-shipment cargo - while Singapore is expected to reach 23.1 million TEUs over the same period. In 2000, PSA handled just over 17 million TEUs.