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.
The Tuas port is opening in four phases starting this year.
When fully completed in the 2040s, it will be the world's largest fully
automated terminal capable of handling 65 million TEUs annually, almost double
the 36.9 million TEUs that Singapore handled in 2020.
Since late last year, PSA has also reopened eight berths at
its Keppel terminal and 18,000 ground slots to provide about 65,000 TEUs of
yard capacity. More than 2,500 local workers have been recruited to boost
manning by around 20 per cent, Mr Chee said.
“By relying on our excellent connectivity, and our strong reputation
for efficiency and reliability, we have become the go-to port for shipping
lines to catch up on lost time and connections, and also to untangle some of
their operational challenges,” he added.
“We are not just a catch-up port, we are also a one stop-port
where we offer a range of different services to the shipping lines so ... they
do not just load and unload cargo, they can also do a range of other services,
including bunkering, supplies and crew change.”
Beyond port operations, Mr Chee said PSA has been expediting
the inflow of time-sensitive and critical materials like semiconductors, to
avoid disruptions to production schedules.
The operator is also working with small- and medium-sized
enterprises in Singapore to facilitate cargo flow from China to Singapore,
enabling several local projects to complete on schedule.
“These are things which we can do ... to try and arrive at a more optimised arrangement to minimise the delays, and to do better planning,” Mr Chee said.
“So then, this requires us to also open up the data, and to
share this with key stakeholders, so that there is greater visibility of where
the choke points are. There is no point rushing to arrive at a port when there
is a long queue.”
COST TO SINGAPORE
Nevertheless, Mr Chee said this kind of service comes at a
“cost” to the port of Singapore, in the form of longer queues for ships and
build-up of containers in its yards.
“Because what it means is that the boxes now stay in our
yard much longer than before ... and also, long-dwelling boxes in our yard then
put additional pressure on our operations,” he said.
“And as more ships come to Singapore to make use of what I
described earlier, the one-stop service and the catch-up service, it does also
add on to the queues and the waiting times."
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