MALAYSIA's Port Klang expects container shipping throughput to rise to 16.3 million TEU by 2020, after handling 13.2 million TEU last year, up 10.8 per cent compared with 2015, and encouraging the government to develop a port city close to the port on Carey Island.
Port Klang Authority (PKA) said the plan to plan to develop and build a new terminal on the nearby island of Pulau Carey would also include a port that would be able to handle 30 million TEU annually. The new port would ease the pressure on Port Klang, which is congested and has reached maximum capacity.
The port's two terminals - Northport and Westport - between them recorded a container throughput of 3.224 million TEU and 9.946 million TEU, respectively, in 2016 when 16,500 ships called at the port.
"We were ranked as the world's twelfth No. 12 largest port in 2015 but we have moved to number 11. We can accommodate the new generation mega ships operated by COSCO, Maersk, etc. In all, we have some 35 lines calling here," PKA general manager, K Subramaniam, was quoted in a report by Malay Mail Online as saying.
"We reached some 13.17 million TEU in 2016. We are adding another four million TEU capacity which should be completed by 2019," said Mr Subramaniam.