27 April 2005
The Singapore port received top honours this evening when it was presented the "Best Seaport in Asia" award at the 19th Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA) held in Hong Kong.This is the 17th time that the Republic has been conferred this prestigious award since the awards started.Winning this award yet again bears testimony to the strong vote of confidence that the international maritime community has in Singapore as a premier port and an international maritime centre.
Said RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Chief Executive, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), of the award: "Receiving this award is a great source of encouragement for everyone who has worked very hard at keeping Singapore as the choice port of call.We thank our business partners for their ongoing support and we will continue to keep the Port of Singapore competitive and responsive to their needs."
Receiving this prestigious honour on behalf of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was Captain Khong Shen Ping, Director (Port) at the InterContinental Hotel, Hong Kong.
This respected annual event was organised by the Hong Kong-based industry journal Cargonews Asia. It was attended by over 400 key decision makers from shippers and the transport and logistics industry across Asia.The winners were nominated through an independent verified two-stage voting process that reflects the leadership position of the winning organisations in the industry.
The Port of Singapore experienced a remarkable 2004,as it achieved a historic milestone with the crossing of the one billion mark in terms of shipping tonnage.This was a growth of 5.7 per cent over 2003.Healthy growth rates were also recorded for container and cargo throughput.Container traffic for Singapore jumped 15.9 per cent over 2003 to hit 21.3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2004.The total cargo tonnage handled was over 393 million tonnes,an increase of 13.1 per cent over 2003.Singapore also retained its position as the number one bunkering port in the world by setting a new benchmark of 23.6 million tonnes of bunkers sold in 2004,outstripping the previous year's bunker sales volume by 13.3%.
Statistics for the first quarter of 2005 indicated a continuation of the upward trend.The total cargo handled was 103.5 million tonnes which is a 14 per cent increase over the same quarter last year.Singapore's container throughput in the first quarter was 5.5 million TEUs,a 14.2 per cent jump over the same period last year.Shipping tonnage also saw an increase of 8.1 per cent to 272.05 million GT.In addition, bunker volumes recorded a significant increase of 8.8% to 5,979,312 tonnes in the first quarter of 2005 compared to the same period last year.
The MPA will continue to work closely with the maritime industry to further develop a conducive and pro-business environment to further enhance Singapore's position as an International Maritime Centre and as a choice port of call.
End of release.
