Singapore Port reopens old berths to ease terminal congestion

The average anchoring time of container ships in Singapore Port has reached 83 hours. The general background is that the tension in the Red Sea region has forced ships on major routes such as Asia and Europe to choose to bypass the Cape of Good Hope. This structural adjustment of the core of container shipping has led to a series of re-planning of global routes by shipping companies.

Due to the increased uncertainty and volatility of the number of ships arriving at the port, key transit ports such as Dubai and Singapore are facing greater pressure on ship traffic. This increase and volatility of traffic has ultimately led to continued congestion problems at these ports. Shippers and freight forwarders will increasingly find that their containers have been dumped multiple times or appear on unconventional transit routes waiting for second- and third-leg ships to pick up goods

Singapore Port said that although most container ships are berthed at the port, the port operator PSA has worked with shipping companies to adjust the arrival schedule when possible, and when it is not possible, the average waiting time for container ships is about two to three days.

The main reason for the increase in container handling demand in Singapore is that several shipping companies have abandoned subsequent voyages and unloaded more containers in Singapore in order to catch the next ship. The number of containers handled by each ship has also increased. In addition, shipping companies also use the cargo handling capacity of Singapore Port to help manage containers on board ships so that they can be quickly unloaded to the next port.

Singapore Port added that in order to ease congestion and prepare for higher ship arrivals, it has increased manpower and container handling capacity to alleviate the situation. For example, PSA International Port Group reactivated the old berths and yards that were previously abandoned at Keppel Terminal in the city.

Due to these measures, the number of containers handled by Singapore Port has increased from 770,000 TEUs to the current 820,000 TEUs per week. In addition to the existing eight Tuas Port berths, three new berths will be put into operation later this year, which will increase the overall port handling capacity