PETALING JAYA - There should not be any issues to develop a third terminal in Port Klang in view of the probable capacity constraints to handle the expected increase in movement of goods in five years.

Glenn Marine Group Malaysia chief executive officer Brian Paul said the company had already submitted a proposal to the Government to develop a container port with 1.5km wharf at Port Klang Cruise Centre on Pulau Indah with an estimated cost of RM1.5mil.

“We plan to take advantage of our land with good seafront, natural depth waters and location to develop a port with annual capacity of three million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs),” he told StarBiz.

“But, if everything goes well with government approvals, we will initially concentrate on the first phase of the project with an estimated cost just below RM1bil.

“The project now is at various stages of government approvals.”

He said the company planned to finance the project via a combination of shareholders’ equity and bank borrowings.

According to a news report on Monday quoting sources, the third port plan hit a snag at the approval stage and efforts were being made to ensure the plan was on track.

Additionally, on Jan 6, there was also a report that some quarters in the Port Klang fraternity were against the idea of having a third container port.

Nevertheless, Paul said Port Klang’s future annual capacity, including all the expansions in hand, was expected to only grow to around 16.5 million TEUs in less than five years.

“With total handling volume of 9.5 million TEUs last year and the average trend of 10% annual container growth, the capacity will be quite saturated in five years and this was only a base-case projection.

“Thus, a third container terminal will put the country at an advantage with the extra capacity to support the import and export activities,” he said.

Port Klang, the main and largest maritime gateway of the country, is supported by the operations of two container ports giants, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Northport (Malaysia) Bhd.

Port Klang Authority chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poo said that Port Klang would surely have to look for extra capacity after 2017.

“I welcome the plan to have a third port as it will be private initiatives that will not include any investment from the Government. Moreover, there will be no land-lease process involved as Glenn Marine owns the land as well.

“I think it will create a healthy business environment for the terminal industry in Port Klang,” he said, adding that the maritime industry in Port Klang should first prioritise national interest.

Teh, who was recently on an official visit to the Singapore Port, said the Port Klang fraternity should take Singapore Port as an example.

“The Singapore Port, which has three times more volume than Port Klang, is also busy with expansion for extra capacity. I don’t see why Port Klang shouldn’t do the same,” he said.

Teh also confirmed that the plan was currently going through various stages of approval.

Paul said that previously people were also opposing the idea of having a second port in Port Klang and south of Johor.

“But, look at the port now. It has flourished and created a lot of job opportunities,” he said.

Likewise in this specific project, Paul said the third port could churn out a lot of other economic activities in this part of Pulau Indah.

On other details of the port, Paul said it would be designed to cater to ultra-sized modern container ships such as the Triple-E.

The Triple-E ships of Mearsk Line are the world’s largest and most efficient container vessels with capacity of 18,000 TEUs each.

“We have a natural depth of 15m that could accommodate this type of vessels. We only need to have taller cranes to lift the containers,” he said.

Glenn Marine is a holding company with subsidiaries that manage its two main businesses of marine logistics and cruise terminals. It also owns and manages the Port Klang Cruise Terminal.

-- Star Property