The Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have been working with PSA and the industry since late 2023 to prepare for higher vessel arrivals.
As explained, the diversion of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope has disrupted vessel arrival schedules at major ports around the world, leading to off-schedule arrivals and a “vessels bunching” effect. Since the beginning of 2024, Singapore has seen a significant increase in vessel arrivals.
For container vessels, there has been a large increase in container volumes and the “bunching” of arrivals over the previous months due to supply chain disruptions in upstream locations. In the first four months of 2024, Singapore handled 13.36 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an 8.8% increase over the same period last year.
This increase, combined with off-schedule arrivals, has resulted in longer wait times for container berths. While most container vessels are berthed on arrival, the average waiting time for those that are not is about two to three days.
The increased demand for container handling in Singapore is due to several container lines discharging more containers in Singapore as they forgo subsequent voyages to catch up on their schedules. Additionally, container lines are leveraging PSA’s cargo handling capabilities to facilitate the expeditious discharge of cargo for subsequent port calls.
As a result, PSA has added more manpower and reactivated older berths and yards, increasing its weekly handling capacity from 770,000 TEUs to 820,000 TEUs. Furthermore, three new berths in Tuas Port will commence operations later this year, increasing overall port handling capacity. MPA and PSA are working closely with container lines and regional feeders to update them on berth availability and advise them on arrival times to minimize delays.
There is no delayed berthing for other vessels that call at Singapore, which constitute about two-thirds of vessel arrivals. Currently, there is no crowding in the anchorages.
MOT and MPA will continue to work closely with PSA to optimize the port’s capabilities and capacity to minimize wait times for berths and proactively plan with container lines on their arrival times relative to berth availability.
