PSA ramps up capacity, resources amid global logistics convulsion

PSA Singapore has been ramping up resources and capacity, including reopening berths at Keppel Terminal, adding thousands of workers and starting to use the yards at Tuas Port, to help ease global supply chain disruptions.

It has put about 2,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of yard capacity from Tuas Port to its overall yard space since September, even though the mega port will only be fully operational in the 2040s.

Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State for Transport, outlined at a media doorstop Singapore's efforts, including PSA's various moves, to help mitigate the overall delays for global supply chain convulsed by the ongoing pandemic.

He said that global vessel schedule reliability on average has halved to 35 to 40 per cent this year, from 75 per cent in 2018 to 2020, while late vessel arrivals now average 7.5 days.

Chee added that Singapore has become the "go-to" port for shipping lines to catch up on lost time and connections, amid a drastic drop in their schedule reliability.

He used the Suez Canal blockage for illustration: A vessel arrived in Singapore where it discharged 2,700 boxes originally bound for the Middle East, that it had to skip, because of a diversion due to the maritime incident in March. These boxes were eventually loaded onto other vessels, and brought back to their destination.

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"PSA has enabled the shipping line to skip a port, so as to catch up on its schedule, after a 2-week diversion around the Cape of Good Hope. During this period of 15 days in April, PSA handled 45 Singapore-bound container vessels that fell behind schedule due to the Suez Canal blockage."

In May, when China's Yantian port was temporarily closed due to an outbreak of Covid cases, 300 calls were affected globally. PSA assisted with some of the rerouting of ships and cargo.

However, there is a cost to Singapore as the transshipment hub port takes up this responsibility. Containers stay in the yard much longer than before, putting additional pressure on the operations.

Chee also noted that as more vessels arrive at Singapore to make use of the catch-up service as well as to refuel, replenish supplies or change crew, it has added on to the queues and waiting times here.

Against this backdrop, PSA has taken a slew of measures to boost capacity - it reopened 8 berths at Keppel Terminal and 18,000 ground slots with about 65,000 TEUs of yard capacity late last year. It also hired over 2,500 workers to raise the manning by about 20 per cent.

PSA also started to use the yards at Tuas Port, where a Free Trade Zone has been designated to facilitate the movement and storage of cargo. It has gone beyond port operations, to the upstream to share data with stakeholders and is working with shipping lines and their customers to plan and ease some of the congestion.

Chee said that PSA has been expediting the inflow of some critical and time-sensitive freight including semiconductors, helping to avoid disruptions to production schedule.

PSA also works with the small and medium-sized enterprises in a concerted manner on cargo flows from China to Singapore, and this has enabled several projects in Singapore to be completed on schedule.

Due to such efforts, Singapore has managed to boost its container throughput by 3.4 per cent year on year in the first 9 months of this year, and by 2.4 per cent compared to 2019.

"This approach of working closely together, and thinking of port operations, not just by itself, but really as a key part of the entire value chain, is something which I think we also intend to do beyond this immediate set of challenges..." Chee added as he wrapped up his speech.

"This approach that we have taken using technology, data, but also this approach of looking from end to end, is something that we want to try and do more of, in the next phase of our port development at Tuas."

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