Singapore beats Hong Kong and Shanghai for Best Seaport in Asia award

SINGAPORE has been ranked the Best Seaport in Asia for the 29th time at the 2017 Asia Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (AFLAS).

The AFLAS awards, organised by freight and logistics publication Asia Cargo News, honour organisations for demonstrating leadership as well as consistency in service quality, innovation, customer relationship management and reliability.

Determined by votes cast by readers of Asia Cargo News, the Port of Singapore clinched the award for its leading performance on a range of criteria, including cost competitiveness, container shipping-friendly fee regime, provision of suitable container shipping-related infrastructure, timely and adequate investment in new infrastructure to meet future demand and the facilitation of ancillary services.

Two other finalists in the Best Seaport in Asia award were the Port of Hong Kong and the Port of Shanghai.

The AFLAS awards ceremony was held on June 29 in Singapore. At the event, PSA International was named the Best Global Container Terminal Operating Company for the 12th time in a row; PSA Singapore Terminals was named for the 28th time as Best Container Terminal - Asia (over four million TEUs).

Andrew Tan, chief executive of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said: "We are humbled and honoured by this recognition. Despite the current challenging conditions, we were able to retain our position as the world's busiest container transhipment hub in 2016. This would not have been possible without the strong support of our partners. MPA will continue to work closely with all our stakeholders to strengthen our competitiveness as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre."

Tan Chong Meng, group CEO of PSA International, said: "I am grateful to our partners and customers for the continuing vote of confidence; as well as to our PSA staff, unions and management for their unceasing efforts and commitment to deliver consistently high productivity and value-add service. With the ongoing technological disruptions in the global supply chain, and as bigger ships, larger alliances and increased consolidation continue to impact the maritime industry, PSA remains committed to investing in and upgrading our people, facilities and processes to meet the customers' evolving needs."