Singapore's Tuas Port will become world's largest automated terminal

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Singapore's Tuas Port will become world's largest automated terminal

The Tuas port is opening in four phases from this year. When fully completed in the 2040 s, it will be the world's largest fully automated terminal capable of handling 65 million TEUs annually, almost double the 36.9 million TEUs that Singapore handled in 2020.

Since late last year, PSA has also reopened eight berths at its Keppel terminal and 18,000 ground slots to provide about 65,000 TEUs of yard capacity. More than 2,500 local workers have been recruited to boost manning by around 20 per cent, Mr Chee said.

By relying on our excellent connectivity, and our strong reputation for efficiency and reliability, we have become the go-to port for shipping lines to catch up on lost time and connections and also to untangle some of their operational challenges, he added.

We are not just a catch-up port, we are also a one stop-port where we offer a range of different services to the shipping lines so they do not just load and unload cargo, they can also do a range of other services, including bunkering, supplies and crew change. Beyond port operations, Mr Chee said PSA has been expediting the inflow of time-sensitive and critical materials like semiconductors, to avoid disruptions to production schedules.

The operator is also working with small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore to facilitate cargo flow from China to Singapore, enabling several local projects to complete on schedule.

These are things which we can do to try and arrive at a more optimised arrangement to minimise the delays and to do better planning, Mr Chee said.

So then, this requires us to open up the data and share this with key stakeholders so that there is greater visibility of where the choke points are. There is no point rushing to arrive at a port when there is a long queue. Nevertheless, Mr Chee said this kind of service comes at a cost to the port of Singapore, in the form of longer queues for ships and build-up of containers in its yards.

Because what it means is that the boxes now stay in our yard much longer than before and also, long-dwelling boxes in our yard then put additional pressure on our operations, he said.

As more ships come to Singapore to make use of what I described earlier, the one-stop service and the catch-up service, it does also add to the queues and waiting times.