Average wait time at Singapore port cut to two days at most: PSA
Moves by the port operator to raise its handling capacity are a response to ships arriving bunched up and off-schedule
PORT congestion in Singapore has eased, with the average wait time this week reduced to two days or under as a result of a ramp-up in handling capacity, said operator PSA Singapore on Wednesday (Jul 10).
It did not say in its statement what the average delay in berthing was before its measures started taking effect and addressing the impact of vessels arriving bunched up and out of sync with sailing timetables.
The statement said: “Since the start of 2024, PSA has faced strong berth demand as well as off-schedule vessel arrivals, resulting in high concentrations of vessels arriving on certain days of the week, causing a significant increase in waiting times despite maxing out all of PSA’s berths.”
Industry intelligence website Linerlytica reported in late May that container ships were waiting up to seven days for a berth in the port of Singapore, the world’s largest transhipment hub and second-largest container port.
In an update on Wednesday, Linerlytica said the congestion had eased to a three-day wait.
The wait time is dynamic and varies each week, depending on factors such as vessel arrival patterns and the number of containers to be handled and re-handled.
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Normally, container ships are berthed upon arrival, or, at most, within half a day.
But these have not been normal times. About 90 per cent of the container ships arriving in Singapore are off-schedule as a result of diversions from the Red Sea sailing route, up from an average of 77 per cent in 2023.
Container re-handlings on mega vessels berthed at Singapore port rose 8 per cent year on year in the first half of 2024.
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PSA said that to optimise the stowage of containers, ships were carrying more cargo than usual. This extended their stays in the port, and lengthened the time incoming vessels spent waiting for a berth – despite attempts by PSA to maintain its productivity.
Moves that PSA took to cater to the larger number of ships arriving and bunching up included reinforcing its frontline capacity, commissioning new berths in Tuas, and reactivating berths and yard space in Keppel.
Also, PSA is working with shipping lines to adjust their arrival schedules where feasible.
A confluence of various factors – including the Red Sea diversions to avoid attacks on merchant ships by Yemeni rebels, upstream and downstream port congestion, and shipping lines skipping ports to recover their schedules – has caused major disruptions in vessel arrival patterns and call sizes.
Although PSA has raised its capacity, it warned that supply chain demand and impact remains volatile amid the ongoing disruptions.
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