Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_ According to Senior Minister of State for Transport Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s container port is now working at 85% of its full handling capacity, leaving room for short-term increases in demand from shipping lines. He stated that the annual maximum handling capacity is 44 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).
Chee was responding to a parliamentary inquiry regarding the “normalization” and “ease” of supply chain congestions throughout the world and how it has affected Singapore’s seaport. Chee said the Maritime Port Authority collaborated closely with port operator PSA and the unions to offer extra berths and yards, noting that the Port of Singapore remained operational throughout the epidemic. In order to accommodate increases in container quantities, they also deployed extra port personnel and machinery.
Chee stated that Singapore’s port, which functioned as a “catch-up” port for ships that encountered delays elsewhere, processed a record-breaking 37.5 million TEUs of containers last year. “Our handling capacity will rise further and give sufficient ability to meet future development in traffic,” he told Parliament as new berths at Tuas Port were finished.
Saktiandi Supaat, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, followed up by asking if there was any chance that activity may increase significantly in 2023. If so, it is an issue of whether Singapore has the necessary personnel and equipment to manage this. Saktiandi noted that the global supply chain pressure index of the New York Fed had dropped for the fifth consecutive month and stated, “My concern is that there could be a potential scenario where you could see an untangling or transport snarls, which is happening just as quickly as the system knotted up previously last year.”
Chee said that Singapore’s port managers and shipping companies are accustomed to coping with the ups and downs of the shipping sector. Global commerce and supply chains are really one of the major factors influencing port container numbers, and there are some indications that some industries, such as manufacturing, may be slowing down, he added. “Therefore, although some of the criteria may indicate an increase in trade volumes, other factors actually indicate the reverse.” Regardless of the cycles, Chee said what is critical is the strong tripartite partnerships between the government, employers and unions, and this has helped to keep Singapore’s port competitiveness. He added also that Singapore’s port is deploying technology such as autonomous vehicles to help raise productivity with fewer workers.
