Singapore : The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in neighbouring Johor has chalked up a 46 per cent growth in its container throughput volumes for the first quarter 2001 over the same period last year as it continues to absorb container volumes previously handled in Singapore.

The increase in container volume comes as little surprise as Maersk Sealand has concluded the shifting of its transhipment hub - encompassing nearly 2 million TEU (20-ft equivalent units) of annual container throughput - from Singapore's PSA Corporation to PTP late last December.

The Johor port handled a total 148,000 TEUs for the month of March, a figure PTP expects to grow by 15-20 per cent from May onwards, ultimately reaching the 2 million TEU mark by year-end.
The CEO of Tanjung Pelepas, Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman, was more circumspect about the origin of this container growth when he said: 'The 46 per cent growth rate to 386,394 TEUs is largely due to an increase of services at PTP and growing of existing services.'

Apart from Maersk Sealand, PTP's other customers include Neptune Orient Line's container shipping arm APL who use PTP primarily for repositioning of empty boxes.

Japanese container shipping company, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) had been making use of the port since last April to tap the hinterland cargo of Johor, but has since omitted the port for some months now due to what it says has been scheduling problems.

PTP's other customers are primarily common feeders such as: Bayswater (Kaz Industries); QC Line; Orient Express Line (OEL); Bengal Tiger Line (BTL); and Bangladeshi Shipping Line (BSC).
During the three-month period, PTP received 534 container vessel calls and 251 non-container vessel calls which were predominantly made up of daily calls by Star Cruise vessels