FACTORS IN DETERMINE THE FUTURES OF PORT DEVELOPMENT

The major function of Maritime Transportation is helps Maritime Search and Rescue Operations within the territorial waters which are the responsibility of Malaysia. While port is the land area that provides space for freight and the loading and unloading the equipment. Port provide the service of warehouse space, both open and closed, for the storage of goods and the holding of freight until it is cleared by customs.

The factors in determine the futures of port development are:

1. Globalization

       -   Known as the expansion of markets and hence of the economic prospects of societies, is taking place in port development not only because of the supra-national nature of markets, but also because of the flow of foreign investment and the strategies of multinational enterprises. These multinationals today account for two-thirds of global exports of goods and services and nearly 10% of domestic sales worldwide. The scope of globalization is selective sales in other countries to multifaceted international distribution, manufacturing and marketing strategies that encompass international production sites, multiple staging of inventory, counter trading in the sale of products, and so on.

2. Technology

    - Ever more sophisticated technologies are being disseminated, in a framework of spectacular streamlining in communications and telecommunications. The development of information technology has, in turn, boosted productivity and, in many cases, worker income. In general, electronic transactions and communications technology have been the necessary complement to full internalization and globalization and their major impact on production and world trade. One company must always up to date with the technologies so that they can compete with other competitor in give to customer service that satisfaction. 

3. Provision of logistics port to port

    - For shippers who participated in the logistics service solutions, they should establish associations or relationships with inter modal service providers to ensure that services are carried out consistently and fixed and consumer satisfaction through the supply chain port to port. Situations like this can increase customer satisfaction with the services provided and convince clients to continue to work together to use their services. Conducted a variety of logistics services including container consolidation, documentation, storage and distribution, will continue to grow and improve from day to day and will have a greater impact on reducing costs and improving efficiency.

4. Infrastructure that provided in port. 

    - Infrastructure and equipment that provided in port must be competent and efficient to ensure in and out of the ship running smoothly without any problem. Example of infrastructure that provided for the conveniences of the user port without requiring a lot of labour recruitment is piers, basins, organize or storage areas, warehouses, and equipment such as cranes and all that involves capital investment levels. This is because every time a ship port happens, thousands of containers will be docked at the port before inspection by customs authorities.

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FUNCTION OF WAREHOUSE

Warehouse is a place that store product (raw material, parts, good in process, finished gods) at the between point of origin to the point of consumption and provide information to the management on the status, conditioning disposition of items being stored.

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturer, importers, exporters, wholesaler, transport  businesses, customs. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns and villages. They usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from trucks. Sometimes warehouses are designed for the loading and unloading of goods directly from railways, airports, or seaports. They often have cranes and forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on ISO standard pallets loaded into pallet racks. Stored goods can include any raw materials, packing materials, spare parts, components, or finished goods associated with agriculture, manufacturing and production.

Function of warehouse

1     1.   Storage of Goods: One of the traditional requirements of a warehouse has been for storing goods. The warehouse provides the space required for such storage and it is one of the important functions of a warehouse.

2.    Movement of Goods: Movement of goods consist of inbound activity (unloading of goods brought to warehouse), transfer to storage (transferring the goods from the inbound area to the storage area), order selecting (selecting the good in the storage as per order to be shipped and transferring it to shipment area) and outbound activity (checking and loading the gods for shipment).

3.    Information Management: Keeping a track of information regarding goods that have come into the warehouse, stored and that are shipped out of the warehouse. Also any other information pertaining to the warehouse is stored. The data captured by the information system in the warehouse is then passed on to the higher management in order to take better decisions.

4.    Protection of goods- A warehouse provides protection to goods from loss or damage due to heat, dust, wind and moisture, etc. It makes special arrangements for different products according to their nature. It cuts down losses due to spoilage and wastage during storage.

5.    Risk bearing – Warehouses take over the risks incidental to storage of goods. Once goods are handed over to the warehouse-keeper for storage, the responsibility of, these goods passes on to the warehouse-keeper. Thus, the risk of loss or damage to goods in storage is borne by the warehouse keeper. Since it is bound to return the goods in good condition, the warehouse becomes responsible for any loss, theft or damage etc., thus, it takes all precautions to prevent  any mishap.

6.    Financing- When goods are deposited in any Warehouse, the depositor gets a receipt, which acts as a proof about the deposit of goods. The Warehouses can also issue a document in favors of the owner of the goods, which is called warehouse-keeper’s warrant. This warrant is a document of title and can be transferred by simple endorsement and delivery. So while the goods are in custody of the warehouse-keeper, the businessmen can obtain loans from banks and other financial institutions keeping this warrant as security. In some cases, warehouses also give advances of money to the depositors for a short period keeping their goods as security.

7.    Processing – Certain Commodities are not consumed in the form they are produced. Processing is required to make them consumable. For example, paddy is polished, timber is seasoned, and fruits are ripened, etc. Sometimes warehouses also undertake these activities on behalf of the owners.

8.    Grading and branding- On request warehouses also perform the functions of grading and branding of goods on behalf of the manufacturer, wholesaler or the importer of goods. It also provides facilities for mixing, blending and packaging of goods for the convenience of handling and sale.

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TYPE OF SHIPS FOR SHIPPING ACTIVITIES

General-cargo ships - Once the most popular type, nowadays general-cargo ships are still built but in small quantities. Their carrying capacity is 4,000-6,000 t on average and may reach 16,000 - 20,000 t. General cargo includes items which are packed (boxes, barrels, bags, packages) or not packed (pipes, bricks, machinery, rolls of wire). Refrigerator chambers to keep perishable foods, tanks for carrying vegetable oils and air-conditioned systems for furs needing special care are being provided on modern vessels. However, the disadvantage is that loading and unloading takes a long time which causes delay. Ships for general cargo may sail on a fixed route (that is, making regular voyages between two ports) or may supply cargo wherever merchants want them to.

Specialized ships - Its based on the cargo is carefully distributed according to its type and requirement of special conditions and need special handling requirement provided by the ships.

Reefer - they transport perishable foods such as fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy, having a carrying capacity of 8,000 - 12,000 t. T Foodstuffs are kept in holds with good heat and freezing insulation at a temperature varying from -25 C to +13 C depending on the type of cargo. Reefers are equipped to carry not only frozen stuff but also goods which first have to be refrigerated to a specific temperature for transportation.


Timber carriers - one-decked ships designed to carry logs and beams; carrying capacity - 5,000 - 20,000 t, speed - 13-15 knots.

Containerships - carrying capacity - 8,000-15,000 t on average and 25,000-30,000 t for big containerships;

These ships are classified as unit-load ships because freight is carried in huge boxes of standard size (units), usually from 10 to 40 t. 

Actually these are the same we see on trains and trucks proving one of the advantages of containerships and those boxes: the delivery can be transported to the recipient using the link wagon - car - ship with least damage of cargo.
The higher speed (of 20-26 knots) and shorter port stay are a few of their advantages over other types of ships. The boxes, also called containers, may carry anything - fruit and meat (in special refrigerator containers), chemicals and acids, textile, instruments and metals, TV sets, radios and computers, even cars and ships! 

Due to this peculiar ship design and method of units, loading and unloading is done much faster.
Records for the fastest work have been set, the recent one being an unloading of 104 containers per hour (Hong Kong, 1982). Usually loading procedures are performed with cranes ashore at special places called "terminals" but smaller containerships have their own cargo-handling gear.

Barge-carrying ships (lighter ships) -This type of ships pertains to the category of containerships but the principle is slightly different. Cargo is carried in floating containers, also referred to as barges or lighters, each with a carrying capacity of 375 t - 1050 t. 

As these barges cannot sail on their own, they need to be tugged or towed to the ship. There, they can be loaded aboard in different ways depending on the type of lighter ship. For example, LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) type has a high-capacity crane at the stern which lifts the barge, moves it horizontally over the deck and arranges it. SEA BEE type has a platform at the stern which is just like an elevator - it takes the lighter on and lifts it up to the deck. 

From then on, another device carries the barge to its place. The "integrator" lighter ship has its hull divided into sections so that the tug can move the barge straight into its compartment. 

Unloading is done in the same way on the following principle - lighters are unloaded from the ship, let in the water and tugged to the pier.
The advantage of this type of ships being that cargo can be carried in separate barges to and from smaller ports through a series of rivers and canals that are inaccessible for big ships.

Ro-ro ships - used for transporting motor vehicles and other wheeled equipment. Ro-ro is short for roll-on roll-off ships and is thus called because cargo is carried on wheeled containers or trailers. 

 Roughly speaking, their shape is "boxy". Ro-ro ships usually have 2-6 decks and look like huge parking lots with stern openings and lifting platforms to sort out trailers. Needless to say, loading and unloading is quite speedy. A common "representative" of ro-ro type is the car carrier (car-loading) which usually has cars directly loaded on the ship without putting them in containers. Modern car carriers are capable of carrying about 6,500 automobiles.

Bulk-carriers (bulkers) - designed to carry loose goods which constitute about 70% of all the shipments carried by sea; speed - 14 - 16 knots, carrying capacity - varies (there are ships with 30,000 t and others with 150,000 t);

 Bulk-carriers do not have cargo-handling gear aboard and have their goods loaded/unloaded by means of port devices. 

That's why all the space before the deckhouse is vacant to make load operations easier. There is an exception for some bulkers that work on a self-unloading principle.
Bulk cargo is a wide term. Heavy bulk-carriers usually transport ore , coal and coke, building materials, such as cement and gravel. Light bulkers carry grain, salt and sugar.

Unfortunately, goods such as ores and grain cannot simply be dumped in the hold of the ship without taking any precautions. Any careless maintenance of this cargo may result in damage of the ship. Just to give you an example - grain may ignite under particular conditions. 

Bulkers can also be all-purpose i.e. they may export bulk cargo and import oil or vehicles. This type tends to have many holds. An example of this type is the oil-ore carrier which may have a carrying capacity of 280,000t.

Heavy-cargo ships - designed to carry cranes, oil drills, machinery for factories and power stations, equipment for heavy industry and other cargo weighing 700-1000 t.

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