Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Transport, during a speech on 13 January to announce the 2020 performance of the Port of Singapore, said that the country remains the world’s top bunkering port with sales amounting to 49.8 million tons, an increase of 5.0% year-on-year.
The Port of Singapore stood resilient in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore’s container throughput in 2020 remained relatively stable at 36.9 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) as the port remained open during the pandemic.
The container throughput of 36.9 million TEUs is a slight decrease of 0.9% from 37.2 million TEUs registered in 2019. In 2020, the Port of Singapore handled a total of 590.3 million tons of cargo, with vessel arrival tonnage totaled 2.9 billion Gross Tonnage (GT).
The Singapore Registry of Ships, which marks its 55th year in 2021, continues to rank amongst the top ship registries in the world, reflecting Singapore’s reputation as a quality flag of choice for international ship owners. The total tonnage of ships under the Singapore flag stood at 95.0 million GT as at end of 2020.
Going forward, Mr Chee said “the Government will continue to keep Singapore as a trusted hub for maritime operations – one that is underpinned by stability, adherence to the rule of law and pro-business policies.”
Mr Chee also reported that Maritime Singapore continued to fare well in global rankings. Singapore retained the top position in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index for the 7th consecutive year. Moreover, the Port of Singapore was named the best Asian seaport for the 32nd time, at the Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards.
