Sabah: 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.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Doughty stressed that infrastructure expansion alone will not fully resolve systemic congestion if broader ecosystem coordination remains weak. He noted that 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.

Doughty explained that modern logistics systems are increasingly based on distributed resilience rather than absolute concentration. Secondary facilities, overflow terminals, inland depots, and specialised cargo nodes are used to absorb pressure. He stated that Sabah's logistics structure remains highly centralised, creating systemic exposure whenever stress occurs at its main gateway port.

He suggested 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. These 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 added that 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 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, including 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.

In the longer term, this could support an integrated Northern Borneo Maritime Logistics Corridor linking Sabah, Labuan, and surrounding regional maritime ecosystems. Doughty 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. Doughty stated that 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. 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.

Doughty concluded that the time for reactive responses has passed, and Sabah now requires coordinated, evidence-based, system-level logistics reform grounded in a long-term economic strategy rather than short-term operational firefighting.