GEORGE TOWN: Penang Port recorded growth in cargo, cruise and ferry operations in the first quarter of 2026, with higher cargo volumes and cruise arrivals recorded during the January-March period.
Penang Port Commission chairman Datuk Yeoh Soon Hin said cargo throughput rose 17.27% year-on-year to 8.55 million freight weight tonnes (FWT), compared with 7.29 million FWT recorded in the corresponding period last year.
He said the increase was driven mainly by general cargo, containerised cargo and liquid bulk.
Container handling rose 4.88% to 343,036 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from 327,078 TEUs recorded in the same quarter last year.
General cargo throughput increased 52.61%, while containerised cargo and liquid bulk rose 19.32% and 15.86% respectively.
“We have seen increases in both cargo and cruise activities amid shifting regional trade patterns,” Yeoh told theSun.
He said US-China tensions were not significantly affecting cargo patterns through Penang Port at the moment.
On cruise operations, Yeoh said the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal handled 372,903 passengers in the first quarter, a 39.55% increase year-on-year, while cruise vessel calls rose to 201 calls from 46 calls recorded in the same period last year.
“Penang Port is strengthening its position as a regional cruise hub,” he said.
Yeoh said Royal Caribbean International’s Ovation of the Seas was among the main contributors to the increase in cruise passenger arrivals and vessel calls.
“We expect more international cruise routes and vessel calls towards the end of the year,” he said.
Meanwhile, ferry passenger movements rose 9.36% year-on-year to 810,053 passengers during the quarter.
