Record-breaking feat for vessel arrivals hailed as 'new chapter' for port
By Jonathan Kwok, The Straits Times, 14 Dec 2011
THE MV APL Washington may look like any other large container ship, but the Hong Kong-registered vessel yesterday made maritime history for Singapore.
The arrival of the ship of 75,582 gross tons at PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal marked the first time 2 billion gross tons of vessels have called here in a year.
That would be a significant landmark at any time, but is especially striking amid a slowing global economy.
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew hailed a 'new chapter' for Singapore's port and praised its 'strong growth'.
Singapore has maintained its position as the world's busiest port by vessel arrival tonnage, he noted.
He also expressed confidence that the sector would overcome the challenges in the economy and shipping markets, especially with the strong partnership between the industry and the Government.
'Besides growing capacity, our port must also continue to enhance productivity and meet new demands on safety, security and environmental sustainability, and above all, to deliver value and quality service to our customers,' said Mr Lui.
Vessel arrivals have grown steadily since 2004, when Singapore first received 1 billion gross tonnage of vessels in a single year.
Last year, about 127,000 vessels called at Singapore's ports - which include facilities run by PSA and Jurong Port. They made up a total of about 1.92 billion gross tons.
Around 117,000 ships, making up 1.93 billion gross tons, called here from January to last month, setting the stage for yesterday's record-breaking arrival.
Gross tonnage is a way of measuring the size of ships and is the internal measurement of a ship's open spaces. It is commonly used by the industry to measure the traffic of vessels calling at a port.
Singapore is tops worldwide in terms of vessel arrival tonnage, and is also the world's top hub for sales of bunker fuel.
But regional ports have been on the rise as well and Shanghai, boosted by China's trade boom, overtook Singapore last year as the world's busiest port in terms of number of containers handled.
Mr Bill Smart, managing director of Bengal Tiger Line, a shipping line registered here, said yesterday's record reflects the success of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) in growing the sector and putting in place infrastructure to attract industry players.
The MPA, a statutory board, is the regulator and planner for Singapore's port and maritime industry.
'It's a good success story,' said Mr Smart. 'Rather than just getting vessels coming, calling and then leaving, they got ship brokers to come here, and the banks and financiers of ships as well. That brought other related businesses here.'
He added that there has been a slowdown in shipping volumes to the West, with a lot of the growth being in Asia, South America and Africa.
Singapore has benefited from the 'hub and spoke' system, with a lot of big shipping lines stopping here, before other lines transfer cargo to other parts of the region, he said.
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