Brunei Hits Increasing Container Volume At Muara Terminal
By CT Hj Mahmod

Bandar Seri Begawan - PSA Muara Container Terminal achieved a record volume in 2004 by crossing its first 100,000 TEU mark, indicating a 32 per cent increase in throughput volume last year.

Muara Container Terminal (MGT) handled a record 101,100 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers in 2004 compared to 76,515 TEUs the previous year. This exceeded the usual handling of about 80,000 TEUs per year.

The robust throughput growth was boosted by a 300 per cent jump in transshipment volume. Transshipment boxes constituted 27 per cent of containers handled by MCT last year, up from 7 per cent in 2003, reported PSA Corporation Ltd in a statement issued yesterday.

PSA MC is a joint venture between PSA Corporation and Brunei's local company, Archipelago Development Corporation Sdn. Bhd, which is the first major privatised project to provide container transshipment services awarded by the Government of Brunei Darussalam.

Hj Razali bin Hj Johari, founder of Archipelago, told the Borneo Bulletin: "This is a great achievement for Brunei that further enhances our relevance to the Sultanate's role in the joint-venture with PSA Corporation."

He gave credit to the aggressive marketing through the terminal operators' conferences held in various Asean and BIMP-EAGA countries.

"However, some parties are undermining this great achievement by expecting us to facilitate the entire trading volume, which in this case should be a joint-effort from the whole community," he said.

Meanwhile, Ms Grace Fu, CEO of PSA Southeast Asia said in her statement yesterday, "We are encouraged by the container volume growth at Muara Container Terminal.

"PSA is a global brand name known throughout the world for its efficiency, speed, reliability and expertise. Our customers recognise that we offer consistent and quality service, and we value their confidence in us. We will continue to work closely with our customers to support their needs, create value for them and help them boost productivity," she added.

MCT is connected to 15 ports and receives more than 500 calls per year that offers comprehensive services in container terminal services, vessel and yard operations and planning, reefer, freight station and gate services. MCT serves the developing economies of the BIMP-EAGA with a market of 50 million. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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