PUTRAJAYA: Northport (Malaysia) Bhd expects rising import volume to continue supporting its conventional cargo volume going forward, while the port buckles up to receive more vessel diversion due to global geopolitical tensions.

Chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof said the ongoing geopolitical tensions have resulted in logjams at Singapore Port, the second busiest port in the world; this coupled with the current economic activities would continue to drive Northport's cargo performance.

"There were service diversions at the port due to congestion in the nearby port of Singapore. We did more than 171 ad hoc calls at Northport.

"At the same time, thanks to concurrent economy activities, we're seeing a lot more import containers coming in," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the International Conference on Maritime Logistics and Ports (ICMLP) 2024.

Azman Shah also said the port operator is ready to take advantage of any disruptions in the global supply chain, given that the port has extended its capacity and capability, which allows the port to handle the sudden surge of vessels and cargo volume.

"Northport has embarked on expansion before COVID-19, where we did a lot of capital expenditure, in which we enhanced our yard capacity. So, immediately, we had something like half a million additional TEUs. Then, we bought 34 rubber-treated gantry (RTG) cranes and we can operate more efficiently," he added.

From January to August 2024, Northport received 171 ad-hoc calls and welcomed 13 new services at its port and it is expected to receive an additional 12 units of E-RTGs in 2025.

The new container yard, Block K, partially operational and expected to be fully completed in September 2024, significantly contributed to the higher volume in August.

Separately, vessel diversions at major seaports have also affected smaller ports, for instance, at Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) in Sabah.

SBCP is the transhipment hub for the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN growth area and the Red Sea crisis has led to vessel bunching due to arrival delays, leading to longer wait times when anchoring for berth space.

The situation has contributed to high yard utilisation. SBCP experienced an 18 per cent growth in containers versus last year.

In early July, SBCP's yard utilisation reached almost 100 per cent. It has dropped to 64 per cent due to measures implemented such as higher container stacking, reorganising of the current layout to optimise operations and raising manpower to clear vessel backlogs that occurred in early July.

A source close to the port operator said improvements are needed to better synchronise the cargo clearance network, particularly after normal working hours.

"Shipping agents, hauliers, forwarders, cargo owners and customs need to work closely. Any after-hours arrangement will need to be done in advance and is subject to extra costs such as paying staff overtime, operating warehouses at night, and advanced requests for customs to operate beyond midnight at the gate are among the issues.

"Due to Sabah's underdeveloped export industry, limited depot and warehouses, and unsynchronised hours have affected container clearance. These are the reasons for container accumulation at the port," the source said.