London - The Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), one of the most ports in Southest Asia, is about to complete its Phase Two expansion programme, which will see a further two berths totalling 720m completed and fully operational by July.

PTP already has six berths fully operational, and while the new berths will expand container-handling capacity by around a third, they will also cater for the new breed of container-ships in the 8,000 + TEU league.

Under Phase two, PTP will offer an additional 720m of quayside and has also encompassed a channel dredging programme allowing for vessels of up to 16m water depth. This will also include 8,000 + TEU vessels sailing fully laden into the port on the eastbound leg from North Europe and westbound from the United States with deadweight orientated cargo.

PTP's new berths will be introduced on the back of a successful first quarter this year, which recorded throughput volume of 957,500 TEUs, and a 31 percent increase in 2003, when 3.49 million TEUs was handled at the quayside compared with 2.66 million TEUs the year before. And this month PTP set a world record in berth productivity. The port reported 340 gross moves and hour during loading and unloading operations for the Maersk Sealand vessel AP Moeller, breaking the previous record of 336 gross moves set in 2001.

The port said it used eight super post-Panamax cranes on the AP Moller after it arrived from Algeciras, Spain, allowing operationsto be wrapped up in 13 hours.

PTP is 30 percent owned by Maersk Sealand, which provides around a third of the port throughput. Other main-haul customers using PTP include Evergreen, which switched some of its extensive Southeast Asia portfolio from Singapore in 2001.

With PTP's 2003 volumes up almost a third on 2002, and new handling capacity shortly coming on line to handle another 30 percent + increase in volumes, there is relief in the PTP management camp that its majority shareholder, Malaysia Mining Corporation, which owns 50.1 percent of PTP, has recorded a 30 percent rise in revenue in 2003. The annual report concludes that revenue from PTP rose from US$78.55 million in 2002 to reach $101.34 million in 2003.

PTP's main deep-sea customers are Maersk Sealand and Evergreen. Recently CMA-CGM increased its port coverage by slotting in an east-bound call on the line's Adriatic Express service in a vessel sharing partnership with Evergreen-owned Lloyd Triestino.

The first Adriatic Express east-bound call at PTP call was made by the 2,000 TEU Conti Albany on May 22 from the Adriatic, heading for the Far East and China.

As new handling capacity comes online, and new berths and deeper approach channels are made available for the mega-ships, PTP is looking to expand its operational portfolio well beyond the present client base in both the mothership and feedership sectors.