KUALA LUMPUR: Northport (Malaysia) Bhd is ending 2021 on a high note with a record-breaking performance, despite battling two perfect storms namely the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent unprecedented flash floods.
Northport said it had on Dec 30 at 11.15am hit a new record with an all-time high container volume in a year after the 3,305,765th container was discharged from the Interasia Horizon vessel.
This surpassed the previous record of 3,305,764 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) set in 2010.
The 2021 throughput to date was 20.7 per cent higher than the 2020 throughput, Northport said today.
"The pandemic and implementation of lockdowns by many countries across the world in the year 2021 have had a significant impact on global economic activities and trade. The disruptive effects were felt across a wide range of economic sectors and industries both globally and domestically as lives and livelihoods were affected.
"The global supply chain was totally disrupted as major ports had either shut down operations or faced exceptionally long vessel delays. Northport's operations were not spared, initially, but the culmination of efforts to improve its operational efficiency and productivity had helped reduce the impact of the supply chain disruption," it added.
Northport chief executive officer Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof said it had embarked on the "Reinventing Northport" programme since its takeover by MMC Corp Bhd in 2016.
The programme included refocusing its strategy to become a local gateway and Intra-Asia hub, optimising operating costs, replacing aging equipment, enhancing facilities and improving services and productivity.
"This had led us to break our highest monthly container handling performance by recording 310,865 TEUs in December last year. We were making steady progress until the pandemic hit us hard," Azman added.
He said the major challenge for its operations came at the start of the year when the port experienced heavy congestion at its container yard.
This was due to high number of vessel calls, where the discharge of containers from the vessels was more than the loading operation.
"As was the case with most ports, overstaying transhipment containers became a huge problem as other ports were either closed or facing heavy congestion. Northport faced more than 250 vessel omissions in 2021 as shipping lines realigned their schedules and omitted port calls."
The issue was exacerbated when the movement of import and export containers by hauliers was affected by the implementation of lockdowns nationwide.
The congestion at Northport's container yard and gates had resulted in a lower productivity rate for its container operations, which then led to delays in vessel berthing, he said.
However, Northport was quick to respond to the issue with short, medium and long-term action plans to reduce the congestion.
The measures were proven effective as the port's operations recovered in less than one month, Azman said.
However, just as 2021 was drawing to a successful close, the second perfect storm hit the nation, Port Klang in particular.
On Dec 17, continuous heavy rain which lasted for several days caused flash floods in several areas in the Klang Valley, the severity of which had not been experienced previously.
Klang was among the badly affected districts and Northport saw more than 500 of its employees affected by the flash floods.
"We are cautiously optimistic on the prospects of 2022 in the face of an uncertain economic outlook, with a new wave of Covid-19 brought about by the new Omicron variant already affecting many countries globally.
"Nevertheless, we will continue with the next phase of 'Reinventing Northport' as we are expanding our yard capacity and buying new equipment to further boost our productivity and achieve more success in the years to come, in our transformational journey to be a Safer, Greener, Smarter and Better port," Azamn said.