Malaysia’s Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) is planning to spend more than $105m on dockside container handling equipment to handle an expected rise in container shipments.

It intends to buy 10 Super Post Panamax dockside cranes, 30 rubber-tyred gantries (RTGs) and forklifts by the end of the year to add to its existing infrastructure of 14 dockside cranes and 48 RTGs .

PTP, a deep-sea port located at the south-western tip of Peninsular Malaysia, is 30% owned by Maersk-Sealand, the world’s largest shipping line, and 50.1% owned by Malaysia Mining Corp.

PTP is also establishing a crane training centre at the port in collaboration with Siemens and My Port Sdn Bhd. “As cranes and devices get sophisticated, the intelligence of operators will have to be upgraded,” said Malcolm Harrison, head of the Automation and Drives division of Siemens Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Siemens also has a similar training facility in Germany.