Debated in Parliament on 6 Aug 2024.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether he can provide an update and outlook on the global shipping capacity situation due to the Red Sea shipping disruptions and the demand for container space as more retailers rush to restock inventories early; and (b) whether Singapore has sufficient manpower and container handling capacity in Tuas Port should the disruptions worsen for the remainder of the year.
The Red Sea crisis has caused vessels on the Europe-Asia route to divert to the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope. This has disrupted many shipping companies' sailing networks and caused off-schedule vessel arrivals and "vessel bunching" at ports, resulting in congestion at ports worldwide.
At the Port of Singapore, we face increased complexity and additional demand for container handling, as shipping lines rely on Singapore as a key transhipment port to mitigate delays. In the first half of 2024, the Port of Singapore handled 20.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units, an increase of 6.4% from the same period last year, a record high. The average wait time at our port has reduced from between two to three days in May 2024 to less than two days in June 2024.
Container shipping lines have added 24% more capacity on the Asia-Europe route on a year-on-year basis in June in response to a shortage of shipping capacity servicing this route. The Member may refer to the Ministry of Transport's reply at the 2 July 2024 Parliament Sitting, for the measures we have taken to address the additional demand for container handling capacity at our port. [Please refer to "Adequacy of Singapore’s Seaports to Anticipate and Manage Severe Cargo Congestion", Official Report, 2 July 2024, Vol 95, Issue 137, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]
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