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Intra-Asia specialist, Hub Line, has selected the newly-opened Sepangar Bay Container Terminal at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah as a hub port from which it will link its services to a network of several ports in the region, PortsWorld reported.
The shipping line currently has services linking China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Korea, Mynmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, India as well as several ports in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah/Sarawak.
The company hopes its services linking the new container port in Sabah, which began operations on June 1, will provide shippers in the state an extensive regional outreach. The new facility was built by Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, which operates and manages seven other ports in Sabah.
With a fleet of more than 40 containerships covering the region, Hub Line has helped Sabah's container terminal in its bid to become a regional transshipment centre. Sepangar Bay Container Terminal expects to serve as a hub not only linking other ports in Sabah and Sarawak but also the whole of the BIMP-EAGA, the Brunei-Indonesia-Philippines Economic Growth Area, the report said.
The new container terminal has a capacity to handle about 500,000 TEU annually and is one of the largest port development projects carried out in the state, which has witnessed strong demand for port facilities and services consistent with its industrialisation and economic growth.
Container throughput at Kota Kinabalu grew 8.5 per cent last year to 151,000 TEU from 141,00 TEU in 2005. With the new direct shipping services mounted by Hub Line, the port is looking to a higher growth of about 200,000 TEU.
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