BUTTERWORTH: Penang Port Sdn Bhd is expected to exceed a container handling capacity of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by the end of this year, said its chief executive officer Datuk Sasedharan Vasudevan.
He said the target was slightly higher than last year’s 1.44 million TEUs despite the company facing various challenges such as geopolitical crisis and shortage of containers throughout the year.
"The Red Sea crisis came to light post-April and it made a huge impact on us as we lost about 20,000-70,000 containers during that period,” he told reporters in a presentation here today, adding that Penang Port lost around 50,000-70,000 TEUs due to the Red Sea crisis.
Commenting on the company’s plan to increase its TEUs, he said the company is shifting its focus towards the Bay of Bengal transhipment market, which has a substantial market potential, with an estimated eight million containers handled annually across Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Myanmar.
"The company’s immediate goal is ambitious but attainable: aiming to handle around 100,000 containers in the near term.
"This year alone, the company anticipates processing between 30,000 and 40,000 containers, indicating a strong upward trajectory in its operations,” he said.
Since 2021, the Bay of Bengal transhipment market has been experiencing remarkable growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 100 per cent, said Sasedharan, adding that Penang Port aims to capitalise on the expanding opportunities within this lucrative market.
Penang Port also unveiled its 30-year master plan to increase the port’s capacity which involves five phases.
The development involves increasing its quayside capacity by 4.1 million TEUs and a yard capacity of 2.9 million TEUs by 2060.
"We are now in phase 1A and our capacity has increased from 2.1 million to 2.3 million TEUs after a RM160 million upgrading of the North Butterworth Container Terminal in August 2020,” said Sasedharan.
He said the master plan is pending approval from the Penang Port Commission and the government.
"We have not received any approval yet but we have submitted our master plan to the government and presented (the master plan) to the Penang state exco earlier this year,” he said. - Bernama
