Ports in Malaysia are established either as Federal or State Ports under the jurisdiction of the respective governments. In addition, there are also ports and jetties which are under the jurisdiction of the Marine Department, fishing ports and jetties under the jurisdiction of the Fisheries Development Authority and oil majors manning their own special ports.

Federal Ports
The six Federal Ports were established as Federal Statutory Bodies except for the Penang Port which was established under the Penang Port Commission Act 1955 while the other 5 Federal Ports were established under the Port Authorities Act 1963. Under the Port Privatisation Act 1990, the operations of the federal ports were either corporatised or privatised to private operators with the Port Authorities assuming a new role as the Regulatory Body of the private port operators.

State Ports
Except for Lumut Port in Perak, ports in Sabah and Sarawak are State Ports. They are State Statutory Bodies. Ports in Sabah are established under the Sabah Port Authority Enactment 1967 whilst ports in Sarawak are established under the Sarwak Port Authorities Ordinance 1961. In Sabah, ports have been corporatised under one private operator, Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd with the Sabah Port Authority as the regulator. Ports in Sarawak are operated by the port authority who owns and operate the port.

Minor Ports & Jetties
Minor Ports and Jetties are classified under 3 categories, viz, those under the jurisdiction of the Marine Department, Malaysia administered under the Merchant Shipping Act 1952, fishing ports and jetties under the jurisdiction of the Fishing Development Authority and those which are privately owned by oil majors, beach resorts and fishermen. There are also terminals owned by oil majors in various ports throughout the country.

This page was last updated 17/01/07

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