Since late 2023, when the Red Sea crisis started and majority of the vessels had to reroute through the Cape of Good Hope, Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) have been planning out to prepare for more ship arrivals.
The port authority has planned to reopen the previously defunct Keppel Terminal, to increase the number of containers handled weekly from 770,000 TEU to a total of 820,000 TEU currently.
It is reported that the average waiting time at the transhipment hub for container vessels is about two to three days, but industry estimates reveal that ships had to extend their waiting time up to five days to berth.
To accommodate the increase in traffic, In addition to the eight existing berths in Tuas Port, three new berths will commence operations later this year. This will increase overall port handling capacity.
PSA plans to accelerate the commissioning of these new berths to help increase overall container handling capacity in the near term. MPA and PSA are keeping informed both the mainline operators and the regional feeder operators with latest updates on berth availability and are advising them on the arrival times to cut down time taken in ship berthing.
Recently, more of container lines have been dropping their containers at Singapore which has increased the traffic at the port. This is in line with the liners’ strategy to maintain their schedules
The number of containers handled per vessel has also increased.
MPA authorities said, “Added to these demands, container lines are also leveraging PSA’s cargo handling capabilities to help manage their containers stowage onboard vessels to facilitate expeditious discharge of cargo for their subsequent port calls. This is a sign of the confidence that container liners have in our port.”
