by NUR HANANI AZMAN / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE pandemic shocks and challenges have pushed for seaport operators to embrace digitalisation and transformation in the industry to prepare against delays and backlog cases in the future.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu senior lecturer of Faculty of Maritime Studies Dr Jagan Jeevan said many seaport players and their clients have ramped up their daily operation by embracing the IR4.0.

Dr Jagan believes if the seaports want to improve their competitiveness, they have to transform their operation from volume-based to value-added service-based.

“In other words, the seaport needs to explore the unique services that they can provide to the cargo of their clients such as rebranding, relabelling, repacking, free storages, inland mobility services and many more.

This is crucial to embark on the new dimension of seaport operation and remain competitive among their competitors.

“Secondly, the transformation of seaport activities from logistics norm towards geo-logistics norm also can be emphasised. This new concept has been proposed to channel the new market for seaport towards inland rather than focusing much on ocean activities,” he added.

This geo-logistics concept pushes seaports to cooperate with inland ports to explore new markets in particular regions, districts, municipalities or villages for the benefit of mankind.

He said this paradigm shift will create a new export market for seaports and reduce the volume of imports which will eventually expand the progress of GDP.

“Basically, Malaysian seaports are at the exploration and discovery phases for the IR4.0 implementation. This is the infant stage of IR4.0 application in Malaysian seaports whereas the global seaports have advanced towards the expanding stage on how to infuse technological advancement in the seaport operations.

“This shows the advancement of Malaysian seaports in the perspective of IR4.0 is still lacking and an immediate transformation in maritime policy and technology is required to ensure the seaports are remaining competitive in the disruptive era,” he said.

Yesterday, Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) has successfully achieved 10 million 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) in container handling as of 7am, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

It has also exceeded the nine million TEUs target in Aspiration 2 under the Ministry of Transport’s (MoT) 100th Day Malaysian Family Aspiration.

“Even before Dec 31, 2021, PTP has successfully exceeded 10 million TEUs. This is PTP’s best achievement so far since its establishment,” Wee said.

PTP has successfully recorded growth in its business and shown good performance in its management through its strategic planning when facing the challenges and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The determination and teamwork of all parties involved, including the Johor Port Authority and MoT’s maritime division, is now bearing fruit,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, shipping research company Linerlytica consultant Tan Hua Joo said container port operators have performed extremely well this year due to strong global demand for container cargo, however, this has also brought significant challenges as a large number of these ports had to deal with severe port congestion,

Citing data compiled by Linerlytica, he said global container volumes are expected to grow by 7% in 2021 compared to 2020. Container ports in Malaysia have also performed well, with PTP growing by 12.2% and Port Klang (3.5%).

“The main challenge facing port operators currently is persistent port congestion and long vessel waiting times. The worst congestion is currently in the US west coast with ships having to wait for over two weeks at the port of Los Angeles.

“Congestion has also built up in Tanjung Pelepas in the last two months, with some ships having to wait over 10 days for a berth at the port,” he said.