According to the Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore's Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance, Chee Fong Tat, in a written response to a question about congestion in Singapore's ports on Tuesday (July 2), said that the Red Sea crisis had disrupted global shipping, with about 90 per cent of container ships failing to arrive at Singapore's ports as scheduled, higher than last year's average of 77 per cent.
Shipping lines rely on Singapore as a transhipment port, and arriving container ships will rearrange containers on board in the port of Singapore in order to load more cargo and facilitate downstream port operations in order to return to Europe more quickly.
The Red Sea crisis has caused ships travelling between Europe and Asia to detour to the Cape of Good Hope, and vessels have been delayed in ports around the world. Many vessels arrived at the Port of Singapore within a short period of time, resulting in a "gathering of ships" effect. This has resulted in increased demand and complexity in handling containers in the Singapore port, leading to longer periods of time for vessels to berth in the port of Singapore, which in turn has resulted in longer waits for vessels to enter the port, causing congestion in the harbour.
January to May this year, Singapore port container throughput growth of 7.7 per cent, from 15.7 million TEU in the same period last year, to 16.9 million TEU. Said Chee Fong Tat: "The strong growth in container throughput and the reliance of shipping lines on Singapore as a transhipment port reflects the trust and confidence that the global shipping industry has in Singapore."
Three new berths will also come on stream at Tuas this year, one of which was commissioned just on Monday (1), with the other two coming on stream in October and December respectively. Xu Fangda said, "If demand continues to grow, Singapore Ports Group will also accelerate and advance the development of additional handling capacity."
He also noted that Singapore has already reactivated some berths and docks at Keppel Terminal and Tanjong Pagar Terminal. Over the course of this year, Singapore Ports has increased handling capacity at all its terminals and will continue to do so over the next few months to meet demand.
During the transition to Tuas Port, Pasir Panjang Terminal will continue to operate until at least 2040. This will ensure that the Port of Singapore's container handling capacity will not decline, but will continue to grow with the gradual development of the Tuas Port.
https://www.cnss.com.cn/html/gkdt/20240708/354006.html
|
Back:
Next:
