MCA Secretary General: Penang Port Needs Dredging (Malaysia)

The Penang State Government must review and take into account the long-term development of Penang Port given its intent to construct the 6.5km Gurney Drive – Bagan Ajam undersea tunnel.

The undersea tunnel project will incur comprehensive construction. Hence, for Penang Port to enjoy sustainable development, the depth of the seabed of Penang Port must likewise be dredged to make it deeper.

“I would like to remindthat, in order to accommodate larger ships, to strengthen the performance of handling containers, a depth of at least 18-20 meters for the Penang Port seabed is required. This link with Penang Port cannot be ignored.

At present, a port needs to have a seabed depth of at least 18 meters to enable the largest of vessels which can accommodate up to 18,000 containers to navigate through.

For cargo ships and vessels carrying containers, the depth of the seabed at some ports can measure even 25 meters deep.

In order to accommodate larger ships as well as the entire shipping fleets, when Port Klang was developed, it had also deepened its harbour seabed.

I urged the Penang state government, port-related units and the authorities to gather the opposing views in a roundtable discussion on the far reaching impact of the Penang undersea tunnel and seek a better solution for development of Penang Port,” stated Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha, the MCA Secretary General.

[mappress]

Press Release, April 16, 2013