Sabah Ports taking immediate steps to clear container backlog, avoid surcharge

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd (SPSB) is taking immediate measures to address congestion and targeting to clear container backlogs by the end of the month.

This follows the decision of several shipping lines to impose amid decision line plan to impose a congestion surcharge on containers bound for the Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) here owing to shipment backlogs.

In a statement on Thursday (July 11), SPSB said it regretted the decision by the shipping companies and appealed to them to reconsider.

SPSB said the surcharges would incur additional costs for consumers and could impact businesses in the state.

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It said the high utilisation rate in SBCP’s yards had resulted in the extended storage of containers, worsened by insufficient storage depots around the state.

It had issued circulars asking for the containers to be cleared but said port users preferred to keep them there.

“To promptly address this issue, SPSB will implement stricter protocols to streamline the receiving of export containers into the container yard,” the statement read.

SPSB also called on traders, agents and forwarders to remove import containers to free up refrigeration or “reefer” points.

“Operational manpower will be increased by reassigning container terminal drivers to SBCP specifically tasked to clear container backlogs.

“It is estimated that with the added manpower and enhanced protocols, the current backlog of import boxes will be cleared within a week,” the statement said.

On calls for RoRo (roll on/roll off) operations to return to Kota Kinabalu Port permanently, the company said it was not possible.

This was because KK Port was no longer gazetted as port land and was being developed for commercial cruise development for tourism.

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As such, the relocation cannot be considered as a long-term solution given this prospect, the company said.

It also said it was inaccurate to claim that two of the four berths at SBCP were not operational.

“SBCP’s outer berth was specifically designed to handle container cargo and the two berths mentioned were inner berths that primarily cater to smaller vessels.

“One inner berth has already been blocked for SBCP expansion while the other remains operational,” it explained.