KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — Port Klang is experiencing congestion as vessels and containers are stuck there after delays in preceding ports, said the Port Klang Authority (PKA) last night.

In a statement, PKA general manager Capt. K. Subramaniam said the congestion is affecting two of the port’s terminals, Northport and Westports, adding that similar situations are occurring at other major ports in the region.

"The situation is made worse by bad weather during the monsoon season where vessels are delayed at ports in China, Hong Kong and Singapore and subsequently omit some of these ports to arrive at Port Klang at about the same time,” he said.

He said this has resulted in a two- to three-day wait-time for ships to berth at the port.

"Further to this, some shipping lines have cancelled calls at Port Klang or have very limited space available to load export containers out of Port Klang due to high demand for slots in Chinese ports,” he said.

Subramaniam added that some shipping lines have also requested that they be allowed to temporarily offload their shipments in Port Klang, before shipping them elsewhere.

"Both these factors have resulted in yard capacity utilisation of 95 per cent which is regarded as congested,” he said.

Subramaniam said that the terminals’ management are taking various measures to improve the situation, including converting nearby vacant spaces into temporary shipping yards.

He added that there is also a lag in clearing refrigerated containers — also known as reefers — at Westports, because consignees who are meant to receive them are delaying their responsibilities.

"This morning there was a complaint from the importers of fruits and vegetables who claimed that their consignments were delayed at Westports and delivery which usually takes two to three days is now taking up to seven days,” he said.

He said because the consignees are not clearing their reefers, the containers are taking up space and preventing more reefers from being transferred in and being processed by authorities.

"Therefore, Port Klang Authority urges all consignees to take delivery of all inspected containers Immediately to enable more containers to be inspected and cleared in the coming days,” he said.

Subramaniam added that additional space is being created for the reefers, and that he is confident the problems will be resolved soon.