Johor Set To Lead The Way In E-Tugboats Use At Malaysian Ports

PONTIAN, April 21 (Bernama) -- The Johor Port Berhad (JPB), together with the Johor Port Authority (LPJ), is expected to be the leader in the use of electric tugboats (e-tugboats) at ports in the country, with it expected to operate at least five units of the boat by 2035.

LPJ Board chairman Dr Rosnan Fathlal said the use of e-tugboats is timely, given the increase in diesel operating costs, which have soared more than four times compared to before.

He said that if the use of e-tugboats can be realised as early as the end of this year, there would be significant savings, since the price of diesel before the (Iran-Israel-United States) conflict was RM2.80 per litre compared to around RM6.80 per litre currently.

“Tugboats play a major role in port operations in shifting berthed vessels and towing ships. JPB uses about 1 million litres of diesel per month, or around 12 to 13 million litres per year.

“About 75 per cent of that is just for tugboat operations. So, imagine how much could be saved if e-tugboats are used instead,” he told Bernama after the 2026 Mangrove Tree Planting Day programme at the Tanjung Piai National Park here today.

Also present were Johor Port chief executive officer Md Derick Basir and Johor Tanjung Piai National Park manager Muhammad Hanif Aminuddin.

According to Rosnan, the JPB will initially operate two e-tugboats, with five expected by 2035, and it will also conduct a study on the effectiveness of using this type of boat before replacing all tugboats in operation.

“JPB currently operates 13 diesel tugboats and is significantly affected by rising fuel prices, as the amount (litres) used is more or less the same, but the price has now increased,” he said, adding that all ports nationwide still use diesel-powered tugboats.

Rosnan said that in the first three months of this year, JPB handled 501,227 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), compared to 509,790 TEUs in the same period last year, a reduction of 8,563 TEUs.

“Vessel operations also decreased, from 2,103 ships to 1,885 ships over the same period. This may be due to the recent conflict situations,” he said.

As for today’s programme, Rosnan said JPB and LPJ aim to plant about 160,000 mangrove trees in the state as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

He said the five-year target involves a 13.4-hectare area, with around 3.4 hectares already planted with mangrove trees in the third year of its implementation.

“Today, our CSR activities, carried out in conjunction with World Earth Day, received cooperation from Tanjung Piai National Park, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Pasir Gudang Campus and Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL-MITEC).

“The programme is to restore coastal areas affected by erosion, contribute to marine biodiversity conservation and raise public awareness on the importance of mangrove forests as natural barriers,” he said.

“Today alone, a total of 2,000 mangrove trees were planted as part of efforts to offset carbon and support their role as highly effective ‘blue carbon’ absorbers,” he said.

-- BERNAMA