ASEAN Ports Association Malaysia (MAPA)

Movers and Shakers of the Maritime Industry to Gather at Asia Pacific Maritime 2014

Kuala Lumpur, 12 February 2014 – The maritime industry has gone through challenging times in recent years but analysts are optimistic that things are stabilising as it is now entering calmer waters with Asia expected to continue as the main maritime industry driver in 2014.

According to shipping organisation Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) Chief Shipping Analyst Mr Peter Sand, the maritime industry is looking set to move in the right direction in 2014.

“We are definitely seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The recent glimpse of sun in the Capesize and VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) segments, the slowing demolition activity and NewBuilding ordering gaining traction are all bullish signals,” said Sand.

“With the global economy recovering, the optimistic outlook of the shipping market has never been clearer than now,” said Sand, who will be speaking at the 13^th edition of the bi-annual Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) 2014, which will be held in Singapore between 19 and 21 March 2014.

Themed “Repositioning for Growth in the Asia Pacific Region”, the conference will see a dynamic line-up of international maritime leaders who will provide delegates with insights, address challenges and share trends.

The focus will be on hot topics such as dry bulk demand, maritime finance, green shipping, and the use of maritime technology to cut cost and improve efficiency.

Asia Pacific Maritime 2012

Strong Line-Up of International Speakers

Mr Peter Sand will be joined by a distinguished list of top maritime leaders from all over the world including Mr Roberto Cazzulo, Chairman, VP Corporate Quality and Chairman, RINA Services S.p.A., RINA Group and International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) Council, Italy, Mr Chris Faulkner, Chief Executive Officer, Breitling Oil and Gas and Mr Thomas Kriwat, Chief Executive Officer, Mercantile Shipping Company.

Apart from Sand, Cazzulo, Faulkner and  Kriwat, the line-up of heavy-weight speakers includes:

• Mahesh Iyer, Vice Chairman, Transworld Group Singapore
• George Horsington, President – Business Development, Jaya Holdings
• Capt. Jitesh Jaipuriyar, Chief Operating Officer, Emerald Maritime LLC
• Neal de Rouche, Vice President Asia Pacific, Wilhelmsen Ship Services
• Jeremy Nixon, Chief Executive Officer, NYK Line
• Dr. Joe Thomas, Director, Ballast Water Management Systems, Wärtsilä Environmental Solutions
• Yang ChangKun, Managing Director – Shipping, ICBI Bank, China PRC

Please refer to  Annex A (4190 downloads ) for the full list of speakers and more information on the topics that they will be covering.

Asia in Focus

Despite the slowdown in the industry, Asia continues to hog the limelight as the main driving force of the maritime industry this year.

RINA Group’s Mr Cazzulo noted: “During the last decade, Asia has played an increasingly important role in shipping and there are few doubts that this trend will continue in the next five years. The robust demand in bulk shipping, the availability of top-notch port operators, overall improvement in competencies, technology innovation and strong support from the public and private sector, including classification societies, are among the drivers that continue to sustain Asia in the lead in the maritime industry”.

“Asia is changing rapidly and Asia Pacific Maritime 2014 is an important platform for industry players. The event plays a pivotal role in setting the scene for an open discussion among industry leaders on the potential threats and opportunities of the industry in Asia. As IACS, there are several issues that are at the core of future industry developments,” added Cazzulo. Set against this optimistic backdrop, APM will offer a holistic business experience by combining a comprehensive exhibition, high-powered conference sessions, and a host of networking events that connect quality Asia Pacific buyers to international maritime suppliers.

“APM has, over the years, grown into one of the most significant maritime exhibitions and conferences,” said Ms Michelle Lim, Managing Director, Reed Exhibitions.

“As a premier maritime show in Asia, we are keenly attuned to the needs of the industry players, what it takes to survive and do well despite today’s turbulent environment. And with this in mind, we have capitalised on our fortunate position to gather some of the industry’s most prominent heavy-weights to speak at our conference. Delegates can expect to see robust discussions between these world maritime leaders on the outlook of the shipping industry in the year ahead,” she added

IMarEST Ballast Water Technology Asia Conference, to be held alongside APM

When the IMO Ballast Water Convention is ratified, much of the retrofit work on ships which need to be made compliant will be done in Singapore. The logistic challenges posed by the retrofit deadlines will be the focus of the inaugural IMarEST Ballast Water Technology Asia Conference, to be held alongside Asia Pacific Maritime. How will yards in Singapore and the region rise to the challenge?

Under the Chairmanship of Zafrul Alam, Assistant Director, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the one day conference will cover Regulation and Compliance, Remaining Concerns with the BWM Convention and Retrofit Challenges. Owners and Operators will give their opinions and a Technology Panel will put offerings from systems providers under the spotlight.

Themed ‘Where the Maritime World Congregates’, the 13th edition of APM will be held at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. In a space of 21,000 square metres (18,000 sqm in 2012), attendees can expect to see 1,500 international maritime companies (1,300 in 2012) from 53 countries and meet with 15,000 (almost 13,000 in 2012) visitors from 60 countries.

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The maritime sector is expected to achieve up to RM19 billion profit and provide over 55,000 jobs in 2020, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

Najib said he was confident that the industry would thrust Malaysia as a nation that has the capabilities not only in the petroleum automotive industry but also venture into building high technology ships.

“The construction of the dredger “Inai Kenanga” can be classified as a high-impact project,” he said at the launch of the biggest ship in Asia and third largest in the world, here.

The close to RM1 billion Inai Kenanga was built by Selat Melaka Shipbuilding Corporation Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd.

The dredger has a market price of RM1.2 billion.

Najib said the ship was built in tandem with the Economic Transformation Plan and an entry point project as it provided a big impact to the country’s economy particularly in realising government efforts to transform the country into an advanced nation.

The prime minister said the government was constantly finding, identifying and developing sectors with good potential.

“The maritime sector, especially involving shipbuilding and ship maintenance work, is one of the industries accorded priority by the government,” he said.

Najib said big and efficient ports in and outside the country really needed dredgers of this size.

According to an appendix published by MIGHT — Maritime Industry Report 2013 — the government projected that shipbuilding and ship repair would rake in more than RM7 billion. BERNAMA

THERE are many ships are operating in Malaysian waters but few of them are owned by Malaysians and this needs to be addressed, said Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

To increase the registration of Malaysian ships, there is a need to ensure that the aspects of development and sea services infrastructure are implemented holistically, sustainably and well planned, he said. “We must be able to compete internationally,” he said.

Towards this, the Malaysia International Ship Registry (MISR), a body for the registering of international ships, has given an alternative option to the shipping community as a whole, he said.

Today, the MISR registered the first Malaysian international ship, “PUTERISIME 786” under its list in the Labuan Registry Port.

The MISR has been established to encourage individual and foreign shipping companies to register their ships in Malaysia without having to comply with the requirement of Malaysian majority share holder, he said at the registration of PUTERISME 786 in Labuan on Saturday.

The MISR would enable the placing Malaysia on the international maritime map.

“I am also fully confident that the MISR will be able to stimulate the shipping economic activities in the country,” Ong said.

Under the ship registry, foreigners are allowed to hold 100 per cent equity in line with the government’s effort to encourage foreign investments in the country.

With the registration of international ships, it would help increase the ships registry capacity and that to be able to handle the country’s transportation trade.

“This would in turn help to develop the maritime industry and create employment opportunities to graduates and Malaysian seamen, be it on ships or with shipping companies,” he said.

Ong said the government would also ensure the registry package is attractive from its company registration composition as well as financing of owning fund

By : btimes.com.my

This 30 years ago, when Johor Port Authority was established, many were skeptical about its ability to manage and operate a port in Johor, the southern most state in Malaysia. Far less was expected of its abilities to develop the port industry in Johor to the magnitude it is now. Astoundingly, within a short period of time Johor Port Authority baffled all skeptics when it successfully launched Johor Port into the international maritime trading scene. The ships many though would never come began to queue up, sometimes for days.

Beginning modestly, JPA embarked courageously into the port industry on 1 January 1976 when it was established. The odds then, were against JPA’s success. On one hand there was a realization that a port in Johor was needed to service the local industries and to create better terms of trades for local traders who were suffering from the tariffs and costs of exporting via Singapore. However, despite this recognition there was great skepticism in Johor Port’s ability to return enough revenue to justify its establishment. The biggest worry at the time stemmed from the fact that Johor Port was barely an hour’s steaming time from Singapore, at the time, the region’s biggest and most efficient port. However, JPA illustrated its mark of distinction when it boldly decided to let commercial forces shape the future of Johor Port. As a forward looking organization, JPA embarked on an effort to promote industrial development within the Pasir Gudang area where Johor Port was located. This move proved to be rewarding when it created ready revenue for the port when trade was executed thru Johor Port.

JPA also began an aggressive international marketing campaign which was handsomely rewarded. When in 1979 it launched itself into the container business, again, many were surprised and skeptical. Comments ranged from the fact that Johor Port was only a small party to the fact that container industry was still new to the region and the country did not require Johor to service container lines. All was proved wrong when international liners like Titan and Evergreen began landing in Johor.

It was not merely campaigning and marketing that was required to launch Johor Port Into the international maritime scene, in 1984, JPA succeeded in gazetting  Johor Port as a free trade zone hence becoming the first and only port in Malaysia situated within a free trade zone. All these efforts and commitment to top-class service soon led to Johor Port being the biggest fertilizer handling point in Southeast Asia and the largest in the world in handling palm oil exports in the 80s.

Despite the success it displayed within a short period of time, the tremendous challenges faced by JPA never dissipated.

In 1993 and 1995 respectively, the Government had decided to corporatise and subsequently privatize port services operation in Johor Port. This period marked a turning point for JPA’s role. JPA was restructured in accordance with its main functions as a regulatory body while maintaining watch over all port operations and port development ensuring the smooth running of port operations.

Now, JPA’s wings not only spread over Johor Port, situated at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. Since 1999 it also overseas port operations at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, in the western part of Johor’ and since 1993, it has been responsible for the Tanjong Belungkor and Changi Ferry Terminals. These changes note a considerable increase in responsibility compared to when JPA was solely responsible for the development in Johor Port.

JPA’s responsibility over the Port of Tanjung Pelepas essentially means it is now responsible for regulating port operations located at the confluence of the region’s busiest shipping routes/ The Port of Tanjung Pelepas is expected to be the region’s main container ports in the region and is expected by many to be the ASEAN’s main trading hub. With the Tanjung Belungkor Ferry Terminal JPA has already prepared an extensive strategic plan to further enhance Tanjung Belungkor’s role as the third southern international gateway to the country.

JPA’s commitment and level of quality was given due recognition when it was accredited ISO 9002:1994 by the Llyods Register Quality Assurance on Provision of supervision of handling of dangerous goods/hot work, pilot certification, port security, licensing of support services contractors and licensing of private jetties. The accreditation was successfully upgraded to ISO 9001:2000 in 2003.

On it’s 30^th Anniversary, JPA has established its indispensable role to ensure the development of maritime trade and port industry in the country and the region. It now plays an important role in the establishment of Johor as Malaysia’s Southern Gateway and in the establishment as Johor as the main logistics and trading hub for the last 30 years, Johor Port Authority will continue to forge a remarkable and distinctive history!

By: Johor Port Authority