Singapore port handled a record 39.01 million TEUs in 2023, eclipsing its previous record of 37.57m in 2021, according to Acting Transport Minister, Chee Hong Tat.
In all, Singapore’s terminals handled 591.7m tonnes of cargo in 2023, up from 578.2m tonnes in 2022. However, this is still below the 626.5m tonnes of cargo that passed through it in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Chee released the figures at a Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year Conversations meeting, a yearly maritime industry event held last week. He said the port had reached a record high in arriving ship traffic in 2023. It reached 3.09 billion annual gross tons in vessel arrivals, which was reported by Freight News recently.
In 2023, 51.82m tonnes of bunker sales were registered, breaking the previous record of 50.64m tonnes in 2017, according to figures released by the Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
Sales of bunker biofuel blends increased to 520 000 tonnes in 2023. This represented a tripling of the sales recorded in 2022, the MPA said. These blends combine biofuel produced from biomass, such as agricultural and industry biowaste, with conventional marine fuel.
The MPA said total business spending by key maritime companies it oversees exceeded $4.8bn in 2023, up from $4.3bn the previous year. In 2023, 25 maritime companies of various sizes established or expanded operations in Singapore.
The total tonnage of ships registered in Singapore in 2023 reached 99.6m gross tons, which means the Singapore Registry of Ships remains one of the largest ship registries in the world.
It is anticipated that the milestone of 100m gross tons tonnes will be reached in early 2024.
