Despite battling two perfect storms, namely the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the year, and the recent unprecedented flash floods, which impacted its operations, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd (Northport), a member of MMC Group, ended 2021 on a high note with remarkable record-breaking performance.

On 30 December 2021 at 11.15 am, Northport successfully hit a new record with an all-time high container volume in a year after the 3,305,765th container was discharged from the Interasia Horizon vessel, surpassing the previous record of 3,305,764 TEUs set in 2010. The 2021 throughput to date is 20.7% higher than the 2020 throughput.

But the success did not come easy for Northport as COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain which had caused major ports to either shut down operations or faced exceptionally long vessel delays. Northport’s operations were not spared, initially, but the culmination of efforts to improve its operational efficiency and productivity had helped reduce the impact of the supply chain disruption.

Northport also faced major challenge for its operations at the start of the year when the port experienced heavy congestion at its container yard due to high number of vessel calls, where the discharge of containers from the vessels was more than the loading operation. The issue was further exacerbated when the movement of import and export containers by hauliers was affected by the implementation of lockdowns by the Malaysian Government.

Just as 2021 was drawing to a successful close, the second perfect storm hit the nation, Port Klang in particular. On 17 December 2021, continuous heavy rain which lasted for several days caused flash floods in several areas in the Klang Valley, the severity of which had not been experienced previously. Klang was among the badly affected districts which caused thousands of its residents to flee their homes and seek shelter at relief centres. Northport was also impacted after more than 500 of its employees were affected by the flash floods. Northport was quick to spring into action by providing financial assistance to its employees, including the creation of house-cleaning and repair teams to help get their staff back to work again.

“Our manpower was severely affected during the aftermath of the flash floods. Even though our port was not badly affected by the floods, most of our staff could not come to work as the access roads to the port were closed due to floods. We are thankful to our sister ports, Penang Port and Port of Tanjung Pelepas who sent their personnel to help us at our time of need. Within a week, we were back to normal strength again. We ended the year by breaking a long-standing record, in the face of adversity, against all odds, all because of teamwork,” said Dato’ Azman Shah Mohd Yusof, Chief Executive Officer of Northport.