LABUAN, May 13 (Bernama) -- Sabah should develop a medium-term cargo flow redistribution and maritime resilience framework to strengthen the state’s logistics ecosystem, according to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Malaysia (CILTM) Sabah.
Its chairman, Daniel Doughty, said the framework should complement, rather than compete with, Sepanggar Bay Container Port by serving as a strategic cargo support and overflow mechanism during periods of high demand or disruption.
“Infrastructure expansion alone will not fully resolve systemic congestion if broader ecosystem coordination remains weak.
“Additional cranes, expanded yards or longer berths may temporarily ease pressure, but without synchronised cargo evacuation, operational integration, digital coordination and stronger logistics governance, congestion will eventually re-emerge,” he told Bernama today.
Doughty said modern logistics systems were increasingly based on distributed resilience rather than absolute concentration, with secondary facilities, overflow terminals, inland depots and specialised cargo nodes used to absorb pressure.
He said Sabah’s logistics structure remained highly centralised, creating systemic exposure whenever stress occurred at its main gateway port.
“One practical short-term consideration is the controlled activation of strategically located underutilised maritime facilities, including the potential use of the Sabah Forest Industries Jetty in Sipitang for selected cargo categories,” said Doughty.
He said such facilities should not be treated as replacement ports, but as specialised support facilities for project cargo, oversized industrial cargo, abnormal loads, heavy equipment, selected infrastructure materials, low-frequency industrial shipments and cargo with extended dwell characteristics.
Doughty said separating slower-handling or specialised cargo from high-velocity container operations could help preserve container throughput stability, berth scheduling efficiency, yard fluidity and vessel turnaround reliability at Sepanggar Bay Container Port.
Sabah should also explore medium-term collaborative logistics arrangements with nearby maritime ecosystems, particularly Labuan, from a regional maritime integration perspective rather than a competitive one, he noted.
Labuan has strategic advantages, said Doughty, which include an established maritime infrastructure, offshore logistics ecosystem familiarity, marine support services, its location within the Northern Borneo maritime corridor and relatively underutilised logistics potential.
“A collaborative Sabah-Labuan logistics support framework could provide temporary cargo staging, offshore support cargo segregation, cargo buffering during peak congestion, alternative feeder synchronisation and regional cargo redistribution flexibility,” he said.
In the longer term, Doughty said that this could support an integrated Northern Borneo Maritime Logistics Corridor linking Sabah, Labuan and surrounding regional maritime ecosystems.
He emphasised that cargo redistribution must be carefully planned and should address Customs and regulatory coordination, cargo clearance harmonisation, road and inland evacuation suitability, handling equipment readiness, marine support services, commercial viability and digital cargo tracking.
“Without integrated coordination, cargo diversion may unintentionally create additional friction rather than reduce congestion pressure.
“As such, any implementation framework should be evidence-based, phased and operationally targeted,” said Doughty.
He said the current congestion should be a catalyst for Sabah to develop a comprehensive state-level logistics and transport masterplan focusing on cargo flow resilience, network redundancy, integrated maritime planning, regional logistics collaboration, infrastructure synchronisation, digital visibility and supply chain continuity.
“The objective should not merely be to reduce congestion at one port, but to build a more adaptive, resilient and integrated logistics ecosystem capable of supporting Sabah’s long-term economic growth and trade competitiveness,” said Doughty.
Sabah has strong potential to strengthen its position as a major logistics and maritime gateway within Borneo and ASEAN if these issues are addressed comprehensively and collaboratively, he said.
“The time for reactive responses has passed. Sabah now requires coordinated, evidence-based, system-level logistics reform grounded in long-term economic strategy rather than short-term operational firefighting,” said Doughty.
-- BERNAMA
