Asian box ports urged to increase capacity to meet growing demand

 FREIGHT forwarders have raised concerns about the ability of some ports to handle larger vessels deployed on intra-Asia routes as capacity grows to up to 4,000-TEU from a maximum of 1,000-2,000 TEU a few years ago.


The deployment of medium-sized ships on the transpacific will increase the need for investment to boost post capacity in Asia, according to Paul Slater, the chairman of First International Corp.


"With manufacturing being outsourced from China to Vietnam and Indonesia, these countries look a good bet for port investment to take the medium-sized ships," he said, reported London's International Freighting Weekly. "Local government participation will be needed as the investment markets are still very skittish, and the trade will need some sort of support from the lines if the new sizes and facilities are to be provided."


There are also calls for new investment in container terminals to ease mounting congestion sparked by the rapid growth in box volumes given it the fastest growing region worldwide, with further expansion forecast for this year.


Damco Asia-Pacific CEO Tony Hotine said that the intra-Asia box trade was facing congestion. "We've seen new terminals open in Vietnam, but there's still room for improvement there. Indonesia is also a challenge - not just Jakarta but also for feeders trying to meet main line services. This is a country where growth is good and potential strong, but more investment in ports is needed."


The IFW report also noted that India's main container port of Nhava Sheva was struggling to cope with "severe backlogs as exports surge."


Chittagong in neighbouring Bangladesh "has been beset by labour, management and volume issues for almost a year." It said the lack of fenders at some berths was allegedly damaging vessels and sparking warnings from some intra-Asia shipping lines that they would dessert the port. However, the remedial work was also adding to the delays.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)