13. TAN SRI G. GNANALINGAM Flagship: Westport Holdings Bhd Net worth: RM5.62bil

GNANALINGAM has moved one spot down to the 13th position as his net wealth declined by RM130mil or 2%.

He chairs Westport Holdings, a multi-cargo operator, which owns a 60-year concession to operate and expand its container terminals in Pulau Indah and Port Klang, which will end in 2054. Westports is one of the three main port operators in the Straits of Malacca that handle gateway and transhipment container cargo.

His son Ruben Emir Gnanalingam is Westports’ managing director.

Westports commands a 75% share of the container volume in Port Klang. It has 30 berths, 6.2 million transhipment containers and 2.8 million gateway containers.

Its recent container terminal (CT) expansion of CT 8 and CT 9 saw the port’s average handling capacity stand at 13 million TEUs per annum. It is also well poised to become the preferred port for local boxes within the next five years. The average capacity utilisation ratio is at 69% in 2017.

The country’s largest port operator is also pursuing further expansion of CT10 to CT19, which is still under the planning stage.

Upon implementation, the terminal handling capacity is expected to increase to 30 million TEUs possibly by 2040.

Last year, Westports has entered into an agreement with Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor for the acquisition of 154.2ha leasehold land below the sea in Pulau Indah for RM116.2mil.

As a transhipment port, it is well connected to over 350 ports worldwide providing efficient global and regional connectivity along major trade routes. It handles 6.2 million TEUs, accounting for 81% of transhipment volume in Port Klang recorded in 2017.

Its strategic location had also ensured stable growth of import and export cargo, attractive base load of demand for shipping lines calling at Port Klang as a preferred gateway port.

In 2017, Westports handled 2.8 million TEUs container gateway cargo which represents 64% of Port Klang gateway TEUs and the largest gateway container TEUs handled in Malaysia.