The planned construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas terminal at Paulau Indah, Port Klang in Malaysia is facing opposition from the professional maritime pilots organization, MPM.
MPM is tasked with the public safety and ship pilotage / navigational safety at all ports in Malaysia is concerned by the possible violation of public and port safety by the construction of the facility.
According to the president and chairman of MPM, Martin Lim , MPM is not against the Government’s effort in drawing foreign investment into the country as in the development of new LNG terminal and storage facility at Port Klang.
“However, with due regards and consideration of the dangerous properties of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the location of the terminal and storage facilities of LNG isn’t suitable,” he said, adding the location must be “well defined and safe.”
The newly planned LNG terminal will be located along the Klang Straits, in close proximity and adjacent to the Boustead Cruise Terminal which is an important cruise terminal in Malaysia that handles large international cruise ships from around the world with a capacity of both crew and passengers exceeding 8,000 at any one time.
Annually, Boustead Cruise Terminal handles more than 500,000 passengers that sailed with the cruise ships, excluding 10,000 or more crew from the international warships that frequently docked at the terminal.
Martin Lim reiterated that any potential development at Port Klang should not violate public safety at large especially the passengers and crew at the cruise terminal and other port users.
Lim said that if the planned LNG terminal persists, it will undeniably affect the operation of the cruise terminal and eventually the Maritime Cruise Industry in Malaysia too.
He urged the port authority and the Ministry of Transport Malaysia to review the planned LNG terminal and storage facility seriously and come out with an alternative location for the LNG Terminal that is safe and not detrimental to public and pilotage safety.