KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the proposed third terminal at Carey Island and Midport in Port Dickson would not undermine the development and expansion plans for the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP).

The ports have distinct roles and are not competing for the same cargo, Loke said. 

PTP serves as a transshipment hub for Denmark-based shipping giant Maersk Line and the Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd.

The proposed third terminal at Carey Island will initially focus on general cargo rather than containers, while Midport will primarily support the development of Negeri Sembilan and would not have the capacity to rival PTP, he said.

“So there is no issue of the ports cannibalising one another,” Loke told the Dewan Rakyat during an oral question-and-answer session on Tuesday.

Loke said the Transport Ministry supports the development of PTP’s second phase and will expedite it, as the expansion is critical to meeting current demand and maintaining Malaysia’s competitiveness against other regional hubs.

The expansion of PTP is expected to raise its container handling capacity to 48 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, he added.

The government is also planning to expand Port Klang’s capacity as it has reached more than 73% utilisation of its existing capacity, handling 15.14 million TEUs in 2025.

The expansion of Westports’ container terminal, involving the expansion of berths CT10 to CT17, is expected to raise Westports’ handling capacity to 28 million TEUs and Port Klang’s total capacity, including Northport, to 34.2 million TEUs.

Together with the third terminal at Pulau Carey, the developments are expected to raise Port Klang’s overall capacity to 60 million TEUs a year.

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