Northport sets new record in container handling

KUALA LUMPUR: Northport (M) Bhd has set a new record for handling the highest monthly container throughput of 335,361 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in May, which was a significant growth of 26.6% from May last year.

Northport said this had surpassed the previous record of 310,865 TEUs set in December 2020.

“The Red Sea geopolitical crisis has had severe impact on international trade, resulting in several vessel diversions from major regional ports.

“Since January this year, Northport has received more than 80 ad-hoc calls primarily due to this global crisis.

“Coupled with higher container volume driven from our aggressive marketing efforts and the higher productivity resulting from our improved infrastructure, we successfully achieved a record-breaking performance last month,” said Northport chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof.

Northport said it handled a record total of 3.324 million TEUs of containers in 2021 for a single year.

Last year, the company said it had recorded a record conventional cargo segment by handling 11.405 million freight weight tonnes (FWTs) which surpassed its previous record high of 11.115 million FWTs achieved in 2022.

The higher number of vessel calls, the introduction of two new vessel services and the improved volume from existing services at Northport in May had driven the record-breaking container throughput registered last month, it said.

It was also supported by the completion of a container yard infrastructure called Block J last year, which the company said had played a crucial role in ensuring the efficient performance of Northport’s terminal operations.

“We are very proud of the record-breaking performances, which demonstrates Northport’s commitment to excellence in our operations.

“We foresee the remainder of 2024 presenting bigger opportunities and challenges, hence we remain focused on driving sustainable growth and are committed to making 2024 another successful year for Northport,” Azman said.

Northport is one of the largest multi-purpose gateway ports in Malaysia.

It is grouped under MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd, which in turn is wholly-owned by MMC Corp Bhd.