Port clusters have been major concept driving competitiveness and creating an edge over other ports over a period. The clusters also have been developing in many geographical regions across the world due to various factors depending on the location and need of the region. The purpose of this research article is to study various factors affecting the Port clusters growth in Malaysia and to identify the main factors based on the variance. The responses for the factors affecting the Port clusters have been collected using the Likert scale, and Principal component analysis has been used. Four prominent factors have been identified among 19 factors based on variance using Principal component analysis. Shipping services and primary service providers were found to be major factors for the growth of Port Clusters in Malaysia. The article brings forth that there is a need for government to formulate policy concentrating towards the growth of the Shipping services lined shipping lines and primary service providers like Custom house agents and stevedoring agents for the development of port clusters in countries like Malaysia. The study shows the need to focus on Port clusters and factors that affect the development of the same.

Recently we have seen a noticeable trend in ports to establish port clusters. Despite this trend, little research has actually been undertaken to fully define and analyse port clusters. A couple of exceptions have descriptively defined port clusters but the boundaries of port clusters are not apparent. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to define port clusters in terms of set theory and in particular look at them in terms of their distinct characteristics and system boundaries. The main concern of this paper is that there is a need to distinguish, from a system and a competition perspective, between port clusters, ports, maritime clusters and port ranges. This paper proposes a conceptual model relevant to the relationship among port clusters related assemblages and that has been applied to the north western europe region This model suggests six levels of competition that will help port authorities and government to develop appropriate policies and strategies for port operation and port industry.