Singapore Authorities Take Action to Reduce Port Congestion

MARITIME Port Authority Singapore (MPA) and port operator PSA have held discussions with carriers to address the worsening vessel traffic at the world’s second-busiest port.

To date, 90 per cent of vessels calling at Singapore have not berthed on time, up from the 77 per cent average recorded for the whole of 2023, with Singapore’s minister for transport, Chee Hong Tat, citing the ongoing disruption brought about by the Red Sea crisis.

“Many of the vessels are arriving within a short window, compounding the issue by causing a ‘vessel-bunching’ effect,” said Chee.

“As a result, both demands and complexity of container handling at our port have increased,” he added, noting that over the course of May vessels were waiting up to a week to berth, compared with a standard 12-hour berthing window.

The impact on container traffic was particularly pronounced, with Singapore boasting the highest levels of any box terminal in the world, with 72 per cent of vessels delayed.

Chee said that while box ships were waiting longer in Singapore to discharge and to load cargo, its anchorages were not crowded, although in the final weeks of June, outbound and transhipped containers were contending with dwell times of as many as 10 days.

Chee told the city-state’s parliament that his ministry was working with PSA to ramp up capacity in anticipation of a surge of new vessels arriving.

As this issue was going to press, the port was anticipating some 256 ships arriving within the next seven-day window, although Singapore’s new megaport in Tuas had begun operations with potential for the opening of two new berths due in October being brought forward.