Malaysia’s Bintulu Port to spend $123M in facility enhancements

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Malaysian flagBintulu Port in Sarawak, Malaysia, is set to undergo a three-year expansion to increase its container and cargo handling capacity and to rely less on its core liquefied natural gas business.

Port operator Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd will invest MYR400 million (US$123.7 million) starting the fourth quarter of this year until 2017 in projects that include converting a 300-meter general cargo wharf into a container hub and building a new 300-meter general cargo wharf at the second inner harbor, according to local media reports.

Other planned projects include a new 300-meter bulk fertilizer wharf and a 150-meter small barge berth at the port’s edible oil terminal.

The enhancements will add 53,000 metric tons to the current 101,600 metric tons of storage capacity.

These are all intended to support growing demand for cargo services in the coming years, even as Bintulu Port anticipates a double-digit uptick in container throughput this year. Traffic at the terminal is seen to expand to about 290,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo this year, a 16 percent surge from volumes handled in 2013.

In March, Bintulu Port Holdings said it was looking to improve port services this year, particularly stevedoring operations for its cargo-handling business.

The improvements to its freight-handling processes will be based on customer feedback, according to the port operator.

As part of its technological upgrade, the port’s Bintulu International Container Terminal will switch from its current terminal operating system to the Navis TOS in July to improve its planning tools and real-time data for more efficient ground operations.

Photo: Eric Teoh