The Malaysian federal government has allocated MYR1.027 billion (US$230 million) to the state government of Sabah through the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority in a bid to transform the Sepanggar Bay Container Port (SBCP) into the transshipment hub of the East.
Local media reports said the project, which has a completion target of 2020, will raise the port’s yearly capacity to more than 1.25 million TEUs by 2030 and put it on a par with other ports such as those in Pulau Pinang and Johor, Malaysia.
The Sepanggar box terminal is also expected to act as a transshipment hub for other ports in East Malaysia for the development of shipping operations in the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area), Far East Asia, and the South Pacific.
The SBCP is the flagship container terminal of Sabah and is located in Sepanggar Bay in Sepanggar, a sub-district of Kota Kinabalu. The recently completed port, which was built to complement and help ease congestion at Kota Kinabalu Port, has taken over all container handling operations from the latter.
Earlier, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said development funds had been sourced for Sepanggar Container Port to realize plans to improve its capability and raise its status.
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas
