Singapore handled 16.9 million 20-foot equivalent units of container volumes in first 5 months of 2024: MPA 

CONTAINER volumes continue to see strong growth, with Singapore handling 16.9 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) worth of container volumes in the first five months of 2024.

This was 7.7 per cent higher than in the same period last year, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Saturday (Jun 8). 

Major container lines, including CMA CGM and ONE, have moved more container volumes through Singapore from January to May this year compared to the year-ago period, MPA added.

MPA’s statement was made in response to media queries. The Business Times had earlier reported that port congestion in Singapore has forced some liners to skip the world’s top transhipment hub, as delays in the city-state have reached “critical levels” of up to seven days. 

These included CMA CGM, which had omitted Singapore as a port of call. At least two of its vessels have done so on the grounds of “schedule recovery”, according to industry intelligence website Linerlytica.

“The demand for capacity remains strong as container lines continue to collaborate closely with PSA, MPA, the Ministry of Transport, together with the unions, to grow their container volumes through Singapore,” MPA said. 

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There has been a significant increase in vessels arriving at Singapore ports since the beginning of 2024 due to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on merchant vessels near the Red Sea since last November.

This has forced major carriers plying between Asia and Europe to take an extended route around the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa, instead of the shorter one through the Red Sea.  

“The diversion of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope has disrupted vessel arrival schedules at major ports around the world with off-schedule arrivals and has caused a vessels bunching effect,” MPA said in an earlier statement in May. 

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The increased demand on container handling in Singapore is a result of several container lines discharging more containers in Singapore as they forgo subsequent voyages to catch up on their next schedules.

To address the situation, PSA has added more manpower and container handling capacity, by reactivating older berths and yards that were previously decanted at Keppel Terminal, and accelerating the commissioning of new berths.