Malaysia’s Westports eyes expansion despite Thailand’s land bridge project
Malaysia’s biggest port operator, Westports Malaysia, is looking to raise 39.6 billion ringgit (299.17 billion baht) to fund its expansion scheme. Westports currently operates Port Klang, Malaysia’s main sea gateway.
The proposed expansion would almost double Port Klang’s capacity from 14 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) to 27 million TEU, reports from Bloomberg said.
Meanwhile, Singapore is building Tuas Port, a 720-billion baht, fully automated port that aims to be the largest in the world. The port is being developed in four phases, with construction having kicked off in 2020. All four phases are expected to be completed by 2040.
The first phase of the port will be fully operational by 2027 and be able to handle up to 20 million TEUs.
However, Thailand’s Commerce Ministry expects shipping lanes in the Malacca Strait to exceed their capacity by 2030, and is seeking alternative routes.
Since taking over, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has been seeking private sector investment for a land bridge project that would link two deep-sea ports – Ranong on one side and Chumphon on the other. This would allow ships to bypass the strait entirely and is expected to cost about 101 billion baht.
The Malacca Strait runs between the Eastern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Western coast of Malaysia.
Srettha pitched Thailand’s land bridge project at major events like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, garnering interest from Dubai Port World.
Meanwhile, Westports president Ruben Gnanalingam told Bloomberg that he was not fazed by other developments in ASEAN. He added that Westports’ clientele have not yet considered Thailand’s land bridge as an alternative.
