Samalaju Port update
The explosive growth of Sarawak SCORE requires primary infrastructure projects to be fast tracked to completion and Samalaju Port is one of those projects. Located on the South China Sea and traversed by some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, Samalaju port will be built, owned and operated by Bintulu Port.
The State government set aside 450 hectares of land for the deep sea port and construction began in 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Bintulu Port announced the first tender for the biggest of several wharf packages. This initial tender is for the construction of four handymax and one handysize wharves.
One of the handymax wharves will be 250 metres in length while the other three will be 210 metres. These wharves will be able to manage vessels up to 50,000 tonnes. The handysize wharf will be 230 metres long and manage vessels up to 20,000 tonnes.
Phase one of the RM1.8 billion (US$600 million) project is forecast to be completed in early 2016, however, some facilities – two wharves and a roll-on roll-off ramp that are designed to handle up to four million tonnes of cargo – will be operational in the first quarter of 2014. The first ships should start arriving soon after to deliver raw materials and export finished products from the industries located within SCORE.
The port will have a capacity of 18 million tonnes of cargo but as larger vessels and increased volumes are driving the shipping industry, Samalaju Port will be able to increase that capacity to 30 million tonnes annually, positioning the port to meet the demands of the future.
It is anticipated that Samalaju Port will provide a total of 2,000 jobs with further opportunities for ancillary businesses downstream.
Despite impressive levels of Foreign Direct Investment in Samalaju and the infrastructure development, SCORE management agency RECODA is not resting on its laurels and is determined to deliver each infrastructure project on schedule to meet investor needs.
For more information on Samalaju Port or Sarawak SCORE please contact us directly.