Singapore: Country crosses record three billion gross tonnage in annual vessel arrival

The Port of Singapore registered a record three billion gross tonnage (GT) in annual vessel arrival tonnage, a authorities news release mentioned on Tuesday (December 26, 2023).

The three billion GT mark was crossed with the arrival of the 8,628 twenty-foot equal items (TEU), 98,799 GT Singapore-flagged containership, ONE OLYMPUS, on the Pasir Panjang Terminal on 25 December 2023.

The annual vessel arrival tonnage on the Port of Singapore for 2023 is predicted to hit simply over 3 billion GT in 2023, up from 2.83 billion GT in 2022.

This achievement was marked at an occasion organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) at PSA Horizons on Tuesday. The occasion was attended by Chee Hong Tat, Acting Minister for Transport, and others from the maritime trade.

Chee offered mementoes to the Master of ONE OLYMPUS, Captain Vaibhav Narula, and the Global Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Network Express (ONE), Jeremy Nixon.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister mentioned that the Port of Singapore’s most vital success issue, which enabled this milestone achievement, was the sturdy tripartite co-operation which existed between the unions, trade, and authorities.

He famous that whereas others may attempt to replicate our {hardware}, infrastructure, applied sciences and working techniques, “many discover it tough to duplicate our trusted tripartite ecosystem in Singapore. This is likely one of the key components which provides us an edge to remain forward of the competitors and to take Maritime Singapore to even larger heights”.

MPA Chief Executive, Mr Teo Eng Dih mentioned, “We are humbled that Singapore continues to be a selection port of name. We will proceed to work with all our tripartite stakeholders to enhance the effectivity and security of our port. The launch of the Just-in-Time (JIT) Planning and Coordination Platform on 1 October this 12 months for vessels calling at PSA terminals and Jurong Port is one such initiative. The JIT Platform will assist to enhance vessel turnarounds and optimise port calls, and thereby cut back greenhouse fuel emissions from ships. It might be prolonged progressively to all vessels calling into Singapore from January 2024.”

Jeremy Nixon, Global CEO, ONE, mentioned, “As ONE we take nice delight that one among our vessels has contributed in this manner, to help Singapore in attaining this really historic and vital 3 billion GT milestone. ONE’s enduring ties with Singapore will proceed to flourish as we recognise its main qualities as a world maritime centre, strategic logistics hub and residential to our world company head workplace. On behalf of ONE and all of the maritime firms based mostly and working in Singapore, we congratulate the Port of Singapore for this wonderful achievement and want them additional success for a lot of extra many years to come back.”

Ong Kim Pong, Group CEO (Designate), PSA International, mentioned, “Hitting the three billion GT mark is a major achievement. The belief by our prospects and the efforts by many generations of PSA employees since 1964 have introduced concerning the evolution of PSA in driving Singapore’s financial development, and in enabling world commerce. PSA stays dedicated to positioning Singapore as a premier hub port and a trusted node in world provide chains by delivering service excellence and sustainable connectivity. Alongside our employees, unions, companions, and prospects, we’ll proceed to innovate and co-create a vibrant and resilient Maritime Singapore that embraces digitalisation, sustainability, and expertise improvement.”

Terence Seow, CEO, Jurong Port, mentioned, “The sturdy partnership and collaboration with prospects and stakeholders have supported Singapore’s achievement of the three billion GT milestone right now. As a subsequent era multi-purpose port, Jurong Port is dedicated to assist construct leaner and greener provide chains to reinforce our productiveness and supply high quality service to our valued prospects. We are proud to be a part of this accomplishment which displays the reliability and resilience of Singapore’s maritime trade.”