Thailand
Singapore port to help ease global supply chain crisis, but it comes at a ‘cost’: Chee Hong Tat
SINGAPORE: The port of Singapore is ready to help ease the global supply chain crisis, but this is expected to cause container pileups and longer waiting times for ships coming to dock here, Senior Minister of State for Transport Chee Hong Tat said on Wednesday (Oct 20).
Global supply chains have been under pressure amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced manpower, delayed ships and caused bottlenecks at major ports worldwide.
Singapore, as a key node in the global supply chain, is not immune to these disruptions, with congestion in upstream ports causing ships to arrive off-schedule here, Mr Chee told reporters via teleconference.
Global vessel schedule reliability has fallen from an average of 75 per cent in the past few years to 35 to 40 per cent in 2021. Ships are arriving an average of 7.5 days late, Mr Chee added.
But the minister said Singapore’s reputation as a “catch-up” port means it wants to help ease some of this congestion, by ramping up its port capacity and resources, as well as helping shipping lines reroute their cargo and better plan their logistics.
For instance, port operator PSA has increased capacity by starting to use yard space at the Tuas mega port since September, Mr Chee said, enabling it to handle an extra 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The unit refers to the dimensions of a standard shipping container. – CNA