叶汉荣（杨厝港单选区议员）先生询问交通部长：

(a) 新加坡海港是否有足够的能力预测和管理全球混乱造成的严重货物拥堵？

(b) 是否会推迟关闭其他港口，直到大士港全面投入运营？

(c) 交通部能否详细说明解决我国海港货物拥堵的规程和预计持续时间？

徐芳达（交通部长）先生：我的答复还将涉及今天会议的第69号书面问题以及祖安清心（丹戎巴葛集选区议员）女士 和安迪（碧山—大巴窑集选区议员）先生提交的后续会议的相关问题。

红海危机导致来往于欧洲和亚洲之间的船只改道绕行好望角的更长航线。因此，世界各地的港口都出现了不按计划抵达的情况。在我国港口，约有90% 的集装箱船未按计划抵达，而 2023 年的平均水平约为 77%。许多船只也在很短的时间内抵达，造成了 “船舶扎堆 ”效应，使问题更加复杂。

为了让船只更快地返回欧洲，集装箱航运公司依靠新加坡作为转运港，将运往新加坡以外亚洲港口的货物卸载后再掉头。集装箱航运公司还利用新加坡重新安排船上的集装箱，以最大限度地增加集装箱数量，方便下游港口的作业。因此，我国港口对集装箱处理的要求和复杂程度都有所提高。

这些都延长了集装箱船在我们港口进行货运作业的时间，进而增加了进港船只的等候时间，导致我们集装箱泊位拥堵。 

交通部 (MOT)、新加坡海事及港务管理局 (MPA) 和 新加坡港务集团（PSA）正在与我们的三方合作伙伴密切合作，以解决拥堵问题。我们已重新启用吉宝和丹戎巴葛码头的部分泊位和堆场空间。自今年年初以来，新加坡港务集团（PSA）已提升了其码头的处理能力，并将在未来几个月继续扩大规模以满足预期需求。

根据新加坡的港口能力发展计划，今年还将在大士港投入三个新泊位。第一个泊位昨天（7月1日）刚刚开始运营，另外两个泊位分别于10月和12月开始投入运营。如果需求持续增长，新加坡港务集团（PSA）还将加快并提前开发更多能力。

巴西班让码头将至少运营到 2040 年，以支持向大士港的过渡，大士港将在 2040 年全面竣工，届时将拥有 6,500 万个二十英尺标准箱（TEU）的吞吐能力。这将确保我们的港口集装箱处理能力不会下降，反而会随着大士港的逐步发展而继续增长。随着新加坡港务集团（PSA）集装箱处理能力的提高，交通部和海事及港务管理局（MPA）正在为港务集团（PSA）提供支持，以确保其扩大运营后有足够的工人。

新加坡交通部（MOT）、海事及港务管理局（MPA）和新加坡港务集团（PSA）正与我们的三方合作伙伴密切合作，以解决拥堵问题。我们已重新启用吉宝码头和丹戎巴葛码头的部分泊位和堆场。自今年年初以来，和新加坡港务集团（PSA）已提高了各码头的装卸能力，并将在未来几个月继续扩大装卸能力，以满足预期需求。

海事及港务管理局（MPA）和新加坡港务集团（PSA）还与所有主要集装箱班轮公司进行讨论，利用海事及港务管理局（MPA）的即时系统优化船舶到达时间和运营并改善船舶周转。对于未按计划到达并等待泊位准备就绪的船舶，集装箱班轮公司将利用等待时间在锚地提供加油和船舶补给等服务。

集装箱吞吐量的强劲增长和对我们港口转运集装箱的依赖反映了全球航运业对新加坡作为值得信赖的枢纽港的信心。今年1月至5月，我们港口的集装箱吞吐量增长了 7.7%，达到 1690 万标准箱，高于 2023 年同期的 1570 万标准箱。

虽然我们的努力改善了本月的平均等待时间，但红海危机不太可能很快缓解。随着公司将出口计划提前到亚洲以外，并为下半年的主要假期做准备，集装箱数量的增加也可能会加剧这种情况。

新加坡交通部（MOT）、海事及港务管理局（MPA）将继续与港务集团（PSA）、我们的工会和集装箱航运公司密切合作，以应对这种情况，以便新加坡港能够处理额外的需求，并保持我们众所周知的卓越、可靠和高效的服务。

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether Singapore’s seaports are adequately equipped to anticipate and manage severe cargo congestion arising from global disruptions; (b) whether the closure of other ports will be delayed until the Tuas Mega Port is fully operational; and (c) whether the Ministry can elaborate on the protocols and projected duration for resolving cargo congestion in our seaports.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: My reply will also address Written Question No 69 for today’s Sitting and related questions from Ms Joan Pereira1 and Mr Saktiandi Supaat that have been filed for a subsequent Sitting. 

The Red Sea crisis has led to vessels being diverted to the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope for sailings between Europe and Asia. As a result, ports around the world are experiencing more off-schedule arrivals. In our port, about 90% of container vessels are arriving off-schedule, compared to an average of about 77% for 2023. Many of the vessels are also arriving within a short window, compounding the issue by causing a “vessel bunching” effect. 

To allow vessels to return to Europe more quickly, container shipping lines are relying on Singapore as a transshipment port to unload cargoes bound for Asian ports beyond Singapore before turning around. Container lines are also using Singapore to rearrange their containers on the vessels, to maximise the number of containers carried and facilitate operations at downstream ports. As a result, both the demands and complexity of container handling at our port have increased. 

These have lengthened the time container vessels stay in our port for cargo operations, which, in turn, increased the waiting time for incoming vessels, leading to congestion at our container berths.  

The Ministry of Transport (MOT), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and PSA are working closely together with our Tripartite Partners to address the congestion. We have reactivated some of the berths and yard space at Keppel and Tanjong Pagar Terminals. Since the start of the year, PSA has ramped up its handling capacity across its terminals and will continue to scale up in the months ahead to meet anticipated demand. 

In line with Singapore’s port capacity development plan, three new berths will also be operationalised at Tuas this year. The first of these commenced operations just yesterday, with two more berths starting operations in October and December respectively. If the increase in demand is sustained, PSA will also expedite and bring forward the development of additional capacity. 

Pasir Panjang Terminal will remain in operation until at least 2040, to support the transition to Tuas Port which will have a capacity of 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) when it is fully completed in the 2040s. This will ensure that our port container handling capacity does not decrease and will instead continue to grow when Tuas Port progressively develops. As PSA increases its container handling capacity, MOT and MPA are supporting PSA to ensure that there are sufficient workers for its expanded operations. 

MPA and PSA are also in discussions with all the major container lines, using MPA’s Just-In-Time system, to optimise vessel arrival times and operations and improve vessel turnaround. For vessels that arrived off-schedule and are waiting for berths to be ready, the container liners will use the waiting time to conduct services, such as bunkering and ship resupply, at the anchorages. 

The strong growth in container throughput and the reliance on our port to turn around transshipment containers reflect the global shipping industry’s confidence in Singapore as a trusted hub port. Container throughput at our port between January and May this year has increased by 7.7% to 16.9 million TEUs, up from 15.7 million TEUs in the same period in 2023. 

While our efforts have improved average waiting times this month, it is unlikely that the Red Sea crisis will ease any time soon. The situation could also be compounded by an increase in container volumes as companies bring forward export schedules out of Asia and in preparation for major holidays in the second half of the year. 

MOT and MPA will continue to work closely with PSA, our unions and the container shipping lines to deal with the situation, so that the port of Singapore can handle the additional demand and uphold the service excellence, reliability and efficiency that we are well-known for.