BINTULU, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, trying to make it big in the worldof container shipping, last year handled a total of 7.3 million TEUs(20-foot-equivalent units) through its various seaports, according tolatest official figures.

Although the volume made up only about two per cent of the total annualtraffic in boxed cargo, as the product is called, government and industryleaders have expressed optimism of a continuing surge in locally-handledthroughput.

This year's growth is expected to come largely from increasedtransshipment activities and with the aggressive marketing and promotionof its major ports such as Port Klang, Tanjung Pelepas Port (PTP) andPenang Port.

Of the total TEU throughput, Port Klang (whose ship and load - includingcruise ship passengers - are located at the so-called "Northport" andWestport terminals operated by private-sector companies) contributed 3.72million TEUs last year. Port Klang is now ranked 11th in the world.

PTP to the south in Johor next door to Singapore contributed 2.05 millionboxes last year. Penang Port and Johor Port contributed about 600,000 TEUseach.

At these ports alone, according to Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik whenopening the new Bintulu International Container Terminal (BICT) in Sarawakon Jan 15, the combined container traffic (including "empty boxes"shuffledaround between regional ports for storage and "logistics" purposes) volumeis expected to rise to nine million TEUs this year.

Officials have interpreted this to mean that Malaysia is taking onneighbouring Singapore, the world's second largest container port with anaverage annual throughput of around 17 million TEUs, rather well.

"This will be achieved by the continiung growth of Port Klang and also thesterling performance of PTP in attracting additional clients (mainlineshipping companies) this year," he added.

Taiwan's Evergreen is to shift its Southeast Asian transshipment hub on orbefore August this year from Singapore to PTP, bringing it with more thanone million TEUs per annum.

More than half of this country's major ports' throughput come fromtransshipment. There were only 100,000 boxes transshipped throughMalaysian waters in 1996.

"Today we can see 1.5 million (transshipped TEUs) at Port Klang and twomillion at PTP. This has dispelled the notion that there can be noopportunities for nations to develop their own ports."

Ling described PTP as a viable alternative to Singapore after havingachieved 2.05 million boxes last year.

He attributed rapid transshipment growth to several factors, includingwhat he described as developments in the Indonesia-Malaysia-ThailandGrowth Triangle (IMT-GT) nexus.

"We have not only seen the Bangkok-to-Port Klang freight train service butalso increased transshipment from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Today, we have100,000 TEUs transshipped via Port Klang alone." The Malaysian governmentis now focusing on growth in the Brunei-Indonesia- Malaysia-PhilippinesEast Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), adding that for this reason BintuluPort is well-positioned in the South China Sea "to take up the challengein facilitating greater growth in the BIMP-EAGA".

"With the intended development of free commercial zones andinfrastructure, we can see a bright future for industrailisation,aviationand maritime industries for Sabah and Sarawak and for Brunei, thePhilippines and Indonesia," the minister said.

Meanwhile, Bintulu International Container Terminal (BICT), owned andoperated by Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd, is well on track to become a leadingtransshipment port in BIMP-EAGA following what is seen as concertedefforts by the port, shipping lines, freight forwarders andexporters/importers from the region to build up its existing mainline andfeeder-line operations.

From around 60,000 TEUs last year, BICT's 2002 TEU volume is expected torise significantly to more than 90,000 TEUs this year. This,according toindustry sources, will come from three areas - increased transshipmentactivities, growth in its own hinterland cargo and the revival of the RM9billion Bakun Hydro Electric Project.

Bintulu Port (of which BICT forms a part) benefits from the presence oflarge petro-chemical,wood-based and palm oil industries in the Bintuluregion and also what is seen within the wider BIMP-EAGA region as itspro-active business-friendly approach.

"BICT has become a leader of sorts within BIMP-EAGA," said one of theparticipants at the Bintulu Port-hosted BIMP-EAGA conference in Bintulu.

"It has been very aggressive in its promotion and marketing and benefitsfrom the increasing appeal of its reliable mainline and feeder lineservices."

-- BERNAMA