Asia

Malaysia to launch shipping masterplan this year

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian government is going to complete the draft of a shipping masterplan by the end of 2015 to identify issues and make recommendations on the criticality of the shipping industry, according to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

“The masterplan would elaborate and recommend appropriate strategies and measures to revitalise the shipping industry in particular and the supporting industry in general and it would change the entire spectrum of Malaysian shipping and propel the shipping industry to greater heights,” he said during the opening the Malaysian Shipowners’ Association (MASA) new office yesterday.

Liow outlined other measures that could cushion the impact of the economic downturn, namely a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of shipping, including finance, operations, fleet, services, and personnel to ascertain areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats before adjusting strategies.

The government will also launch the Malaysia Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club for ships below 300 gt before the end of the year.

Liow said he was coordinating with the Finance Ministry for a startup grant of RM4m ($1.08m) for the club.

“This will enable the Malaysia P&I Club to offer an affordable and competitive insurance premium to small ship owners involving third party liabilities,” he said.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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