Adib Noor
Muara Port officials yesterday welcomed Supa Bhum, a 6,393-gross-register-tonnage (GRT) container feeder vessel with a capacity of 628 twenty-foot equivalent units (teus), owned by Regional Container Lines Pte Ltd (RCL) in a ceremony at Muara Port.
Muara Port Company Sdn Bhd (MPC) Chief Operating Officer Fazilah Yassin said the arrival of the vessel marked a fruitful collaboration between MPC, Ben Line Agencies (B) Sdn Bhd and RCL, through which MPC can expand its regional connectivity and reinforce more shipping lines into Muara Port.
The ceremony was part of the maiden voyage of the newly launched Regional East Malaysia (REM) service, a service between East Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, which commenced on October 10, from Singapore.
The service is scheduled to run on a bi-weekly basis, once every 14 days.
As Brunei’s largest port and the country’s main international trade gateway, Muara Port is strategically located in ASEAN, has excellent connectivity along the Belt and Road Maritime Silk Road, and has the potential to become a major port hub for the Eastern Growth Area, which includes Borneo Island, BIMP-EAGA, and the larger ASEAN region.
Through implementing a number of initiatives, which includes the expansion of the Muara Container Terminal, MPC is committed to transform Muara Port into a regional shipping and transshipment hub in the Southeast Asia region.
“At present, our connectivity coverage includes Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Hong Kong, with 23 shipping lines represented by 13 shipping agents,” said Fazilah.
“As of September, the top five commodities coming into Muara Port were food items, which accounts for 42.1 per cent of all other commodities; household (19.7 per cent); building materials (16.7 per cent); miscellaneous (13.52 per cent); and telecommunication and electrical products (eight per cent).”
MPC anticipates that this new service will increase volume into and out of Muara Port. The vessel’s previous port of call is Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia and is scheduled for Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia next.
