Due to this Frank Swettenham stated to Selangor's British Resident at the time, William Bloomfield Douglas,[7] that the journey to Kuala Lumpur was "rather long and boring".

[15][16] Just a few years before, the British doctor Sir Ronald Ross had proved in 1897 that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes; Port Swettenham was the first colonial area to benefit from the discovery.

[17] Swamps were filled in, jungle cleared, and surface water diverted to destroy mosquito breeding grounds and combat further disruption to port operations.

[18] Between World Wars I and II, the port experienced much growth and expansion, peaking in 1940 when tonnage rose to 550,000 tonnes.

The port expanded to the south with permanent installations to handle more palm oil and latex, two increasingly important exports.

[21] In November 1972, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak declared the container terminal open and in May 1974, construction of seven more berths for bulk cargo began and was completed in 1983.

[22] The port is part of the Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, there to the Upper Adriatic region of Trieste with its connections to Central and Eastern Europe.

[3] Its operations also cover South Port, which was renamed Southpoint for conventional cargo handling, and acquired Northport Distripark Sdn Bhd (NDSB) as part of its logistics division.

The KESAS interchanges with the Pulau Indah Expressway Federal Route 181 in nearby Pandamaran connects to Westports and the PKFZ.

Main roads that link the Port Klang town, Southport and housing area are Persiaran Raja Muda Musa and Jalan Pelabuhan Utara.

Since 2012, Pulau Indah is directly connected to Malaysia's administrative capital, Putrajaya and Kajang via the SKVE South Klang Valley Expressway.

The electric train service links to Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and all the way until Tanjung Malim.