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Port Klang

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Port Klang

Port Klang (Malay: Pelabuhan Klang) is the principal port of Malaysia on the Strait of Malacca. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham (Malay: Pelabuhan Swettenham), it was renamed Port Klang in July 1972 and has since become the largest port in the country. It is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the town of Klang, and 38 kilometres (24 mi) southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

Port Klang was also known as the "National Load Centre".

Located in the District of Klang, it was the 14th busiest container port (2022) in the world. It was also the 12th busiest port in by volume (million TEU) in 2018 and as of July 2020 was the top location for aluminium stockholding for LME, the top metal exchange in the world.

Klang was formerly the terminus of the government railway and the port of the State. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur. Rapid development at the new administrative centre in the late 1800s attracted businessmen and job seekers alike from Klang. At this time the only methods of transport between Klang and Kuala Lumpur were by horse or buffalo drawn wagons, or boat ride along the Klang River to Damansara. Due to this Frank Swettenham stated to Selangor's British Resident at the time, William Bloomfield Douglas, that the journey to Kuala Lumpur was "rather long and boring". He continued to suggest a train line be built as an alternative route.[citation needed]

In September 1882, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham was appointed Selangor's new Resident. Swettenham initiated a rail link between Klang and Kuala Lumpur to overcome the transport problems, particularly of the tin mining interests who needed to convey the ore to Klang's port, Pelabuhan Batu. Nineteen and a half miles of rail track from Kuala Lumpur to Bukit Kudu was opened in September 1886, and extended 3 miles to Klang in 1890. River navigation, however, was difficult, as only ships drawing less than 3.9 metres (13 ft) of water could come up the jetty, and thus a new port was selected near the mouth of the river as the anchorage was good. Developed by the Malayan Railway and officially opened 15 years later on 15 September 1901 by Swettenham himself, the new port was named Port Swettenham.

Both Klang and Port Swettenham were already known as notoriously malaria prone localities with the port itself located on a mangrove swamp. Within two months of its opening, the port was closed due to an outbreak of malaria. Just a few years before, the British doctor Sir Ronald Ross had proved in 1897 that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes; Port Swettenham was the first colonial area to benefit from the discovery. Swamps were filled in, jungle cleared, and surface water diverted to destroy mosquito breeding grounds and combat further disruption to port operations. The threat of malaria was removed completely by the end of the exercise. Trade grew rapidly and two new berths were added by 1914 along with other port facilities. The Selangor Polo Club was founded in Port Swettenham in 1902 but it moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1911.

Between World Wars I and II, the port experienced much growth and expansion, peaking in 1940 when tonnage rose to 550,000 tonnes. During the Second World War Allied aircraft were serviced by RAF Servicing Commandos at airfields in Port Swettenham. Its location is marked on a 1954 map by the United States Army. Much of the port's facilities that were damaged during the war were reconstructed. The port expanded to the south with permanent installations to handle more palm oil and latex, two increasingly important exports. Imports also grew tremendously, and tonnage of cargo handled at the port far exceeded what was thought possible before the war.

On 1 July 1963, the Malaysian government established the Port Swettenham Authority, which was subsequently changed to Port Klang Authority, as a statutory corporation to take over the administration of Port Klang from the Malayan Railway Administration. In the late 1960s and 1970s new deepwater berths were constructed with wharves suitable for handling container as well as conventional cargoes. The Royal Selangor Yacht Club was first registered here as "Port Swettenham Yacht Club" in July 1969. In November 1972, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak declared the container terminal open and in May 1974, construction of seven more berths for bulk cargo began and was completed in 1983. In October 1982, construction of the liquid bulk terminal in North Port was completed.

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