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Green Ports Toolkit
Southeast Asia · Case study

Port Klang Authority

MalaysiaOngoing

Port Klang Authority (PKA) regulates Port Klang, Malaysia's main maritime gateway, which handled 15.14 million TEUs in 2025 across two privatised terminals. PKA runs compliance as a statutory regulator, not a corporate ESG function. Its published framework is strong on governance, integrity, safety and security.

Mandate and legal basis

PKA was established on 1 July 1963 under the Port Authorities Act 1963. That Act gives it two jobs at once:

  1. regulate port services and privatised facilities inside port limits and
  2. act as landlord to the terminal operators, Northport and Westports.

PKA reports the following certifications and compliance statement:

  • ISO 9001:2015 quality management
  • ISO/IEC 27001:2022 information security
  • ISPS Code statement of compliance (a maritime security requirement, not an ISO management system certification)
  • Anti-Bribery Management System, ISO 37001 (shown as "ABMS 37001:2025")

Integrity is documented and reportable. There is an anti-corruption policy statement, an SPAR (anti-corruption management system) policy statement, and a policy on gifts, entertainment and donations. Alongside them sits a complete whistleblowing package: the policy, the protections available to a discloser, what information a report needs, the reporting method, and an online submission system.

Compliance is operationalised through registers and permits, not manuals. This is the most transferable part. Obligations are enforced at the point of transaction:

  • eLICENSING and ancillary service licensing,
  • off-dock and on-dock depot registration,
  • ePASS,
  • eJetty,
  • eBunkering,
  • eHOTWORKS for hot work permits,
  • eKEMASKINI BOMBA for fire, and
  • electronic declaration systems for free zone and dangerous goods cargo.

The Malaysian Maritime Single Window handles vessel registration, pre-arrival notification and clearance. If you want to move something through the port, you pass through a register.

PKA maintains a suite of operating procedures and guidelines on its website, freely accessible to any port user, which supports enforcement of compliance. Making these public does real enforcement work. A shipper, haulier, surveyor or terminal operator can find the applicable requirement and the current version of the form without asking PKA, so there is no gap between the rule and the party expected to follow it.

Transferability

Port Klang shows that a compliance register works best when it is built into transactions port users already have to complete. Permits, licences, passes and vessel clearances are issued through the register, so requirements are enforced at the point of use, and procedures and forms are published openly so users can find the current rule without contacting the authority.

This transfers to DMC ports where a statutory port authority licenses operators or acts as landlord to terminals. Basic versions can start first and be digitised later: a paper or spreadsheet permit-to-work and access-pass system, a public webpage of requirements and forms, and a simple obligations register.

The full e-platform suite and ISO certifications reflect Port Klang's scale and are later-stage steps. Its framework is centred on governance, integrity and safety, so DMC ports would need to add environmental obligations to the same control points.

Sources

All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.