Singapore Monitors Shipping Routes Amidst Houthi Attacks

Singapore, Jan 12 (PTI) The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Friday said that it is closely monitoring the global geopolitical situation and its impact on key shipping routes and global supply chains, amidst the attacks by Houthi militants on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea since November 2023, said a media report.

The MPA also said that it will assist ships to catch up with their schedules in case of any supply chain disruptions and issued advisories on security plans and risk mitigation to Singapore-registered vessels navigating the high-risk areas, The Straits Times reported.

"The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) is closely monitoring the global geopolitical situation and its impact on key shipping routes and global supply chains. It is also studying the development of a system to track the activities of maritime drones in Singapore's waters and ensure the safety of port users," said the report.

The Israel-Hamas war has spilt over to the Red Sea and affected ships sailing through the Suez Canal.

Four of the world's five largest shipping companies have paused or cancelled services in the Red Sea since December 15, 2023, avoiding the Suez Canal over security concerns after attacks on commercial ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

About 12 per cent of global trade, including up to 30 per cent of container traffic, passes through the Suez Canal – the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The disruption to operations has led to longer delivery times and higher freight costs.

Meanwhile, the acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat cautioned the maritime industry to expect “some rough seas ahead” in the midst of challenges such as a slowing global economy, inflationary pressures and “weak consumer sentiment” as a result of the lagging economy.

Added to that are disruptions to trade flows and supply chains from geopolitical uncertainty and climate change, he said at the Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year Conversations, a yearly maritime industry event held Friday.

To help businesses navigate these headwinds, Chee announced that MPA will from April 1 waive the need for security deposits and banker's guarantees for the payment of port fees from billing parties assessed to be of lower credit risk.

Currently, ocean-going vessels calling at Singapore's port that are charged more than 5,000 Singaporean dollars annually in port fees must furnish MPA with a security deposit or banker's guarantee to prevent payment defaults.

Chee urged the industry to stay on the path of digital transformation and to continue investing in the country's maritime workforce through the redesign of jobs.

Meanwhile, media reports said Singapore's port handled a record 39.01 million shipping containers, or twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), in 2023, eclipsing its previous record of 37.57 million TEUs in 2021,

In 2022, the port handled 37.29 million TEUs.

In all, Singapore's terminals handled 591.7 million tonnes of cargo in 2023, an increase from 578.2 million tonnes in 2022. But this is still lower than the 626.5 million tonnes of cargo that passed through Singapore in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, according to a media report.

Chee also said Singapore's port reached a record high in arriving ship traffic in 2023, recording 3.09 billion annual gross tons in vessel arrivals.

Annual vessel arrival tonnage – or the internal volume of all ships that arrive in a year, including their engine room and non-cargo spaces – is a common maritime industry measure of vessel traffic calling at a port.

In 2023, 51.82 million tonnes of bunker sales were registered, breaking the previous record of 50.64 million tonnes in 2017, according to figures released by the MPA on Friday.

As part of Singapore's maritime decarbonisation efforts, bunker sales of biofuel blends increased to 520,000 tonnes in 2023. This is a more-than-threefold increase from the sales recorded in 2022 (140,000 tonnes), said MPA.

These blends combine biofuel produced from biomass, such as agricultural and industry biowaste, with conventional marine fuel.

MPA said total business spending by key maritime companies it oversees exceeded 4.8 billion Singaporean dollars in 2023, an increase from 4.3 billion Singaporean dollars in 2022.

In 2023, 25 maritime companies established or expanded their operations in Singapore.

The total tonnage of ships registered in Singapore in 2023 reached 99.6 million gross tons, up 4 per cent from 95.4 million gross tons in 2022, said MPA.

This means that the Singapore Registry of Ships remains one of the largest ship registries in the world, said MPA.

Minister Chee said the registry can expect to reach the milestone of 100 million gross tons in early 2024.