Southpoint, Malaysia

Southpoint, formerly known as Southport, is the oldest section of Northport. Southpoint which has undergone massive rehabilitation and renewal offers a very broad range of facilities and services for handling of a variety of cargoes.

Southpoint caters for ships serving the short-sea trades in the region as well as offers facilities for handling of liquid bulk cargo, especially palm oil and rubber latex and dry bulk cargo. Southpoint also handles ro-ro cargo such as vehicles and machineries.

Designated as a Free Commercial Zone in February 2004, Southpoint offers itself as a customs-free cargo consolidation centre for re-shipment of cargoes shipped in conventional form from neighbouring and riverine ports.

Southpoint has eight berths (from Berth 1 to Berth 7A). The first four berths have a depth between 9 m and 10.5 m to cater for ocean-going vessels up to 40,000 displacement tonnes. Berths 5 to 7A draw depths of about 6m can accommodate coastal ships of up to 6,000 displacement tonnes.

Other facilities include eight warehouses, a container yard and a fully equipped multipurpose yard with a total space of 35,000 sq.metres that serves as freight station for consolidation of conventional cargo into containers. Containers from Southpoint can be moved across to the container terminals at Northport to secure mainline connections to worldwide ports.

History of Port Klang began more than 100 years ago at Southport, a small railway port that was better known then as Port Swettenham. For many years it was the national gateway offering wide range of port facilities and services, handling all cargo type such as general, breakbulk and liquid bulk.

Soon rapid expansion of demand for port facilities at Port Klang, consistent with the growth of the economy in the seventies, and the advent of containerization, saw the development of Northport eclipsing the role of Southport. Soon it became a home to only small coastal ships, tugs, barges, fishing crafts and inter-island ferries.

In a move that could reclaim its lost glory, major efforts have now been initiated by Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, which owns and operates Southport, to revitalize the port. Southport, or as it is now known as Southpoint, is rapidly emerging into a regional conventional transshipment hub.

Significant upgrading and refurbishing of the facilities and services have been carried to meet the demands of the trade. Since the port facility at Southpoint has traditionally served as a coastal terminal to handle the trade between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah/Sarawak, a major focus of the re-development of the terminal is to serve the short-sea trade.

There are now a number of ship operators and barges mounting regular services to and from the river ports in the Indonesia, Sabah, Sarawak, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Southpoint has a total ship calls an average of 120 barges per month and to cope with this demand. In addition, Southpoint has five break bulk berths. The 546 meter terminal is capable of accommodating bulkers ranging from DWT|6,000|metric|first=yes to DWT|20,000. With vastly superior and efficient port services and facilities compared with similar short-sea terminals in the region, Southpoint has the competitive edge to attract more of the short sea trade ships.

There are regular sailings to more than 11 major ports in Indonesia namely Banjarmasin, Belawan, Jambi, Makasar, Palembang, Dumai, Bitung, Tanjung Balai, Pekan Baru, Buatanand Semarang. Cargo handling consolidation activities are also expected to link up with more than 20 minor ports around the Indonesian archipelago.

Southpoint also offers dedicated facilities for containerized cargo, which can be packed, unpacked and stored, for distribution via Northport's Container Terminal 1, 2 and 3 for worldwide connections.

Northport, served by the most extensive network of container shipping services in the country, is linked to about 123 countries to about 300 ports worldwide.

Southpoint is positioned to play a niche role in the expanding intra-ASEAN trade, especially to exploit the "trade creation" effects following the entry of AFTA. The potential for growth in trade, especially between small ports in Indonesia and Southpoint at Port Klang, looks very promising.