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Singapore's port and maritime performance in 2008 was announced yesterday by Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Raymond Lim, at a New Year reception organised by the Singapore Maritime Foundation.

Despite the current global economic downturn, Singapore's maritime and port sector defied economic gravity in the later half of 2008 to hit new highs in bunkering volumes, vessel arrival tonnage, container throughput, cargo throughput and fleet size.

"The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) efforts to develop Singapore as a premier global hub port and an international maritime centre continued to yield good results," commented the MPA on the port's performance in 2008.

"The port of Singapore has retained its global lead in vessel arrival tonnage, containers handled, and bunkers lifted, while the Singapore registry of ships is currently the fourth largest in the world," the MPA added.

Singapore is also home to more than 100 international shipping groups now. The maritime cluster as a whole employs more than 100,000 people and contributes some seven per cent to Singapore's GDP.

Details of the 2008 performance are as follows:

Bunker Sales
The total volume of bunkers sold in the Port of Singapore reached a new record in 2008 when it hit 34.9 million tonnes as of end December. 2008's sales surpassed 2007's figures by 10.7 per cent.

Vessel Arrivals
Vessel arrivals in terms of shipping tonnage reached 1.6 billion gross tons (GT) in 2008, an increase of some 11.1 per cent from the 1.5 billion GT record set in 2007. Container ships were the top contributors, accounting for 36.5 per cent of the total vessel arrival tonnage. Tankers came in a close second, contributing 29.9 per cent to the total figure.

Container and Cargo Throughput
Container traffic in 2008 hit 29.9 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), a 7.1 per cent increase from the 27.9 million TEUs handled in 2007. The total cargo tonnage handled by the Port of Singapore last year climbed 6.5 per cent over 2007 to reach 515.3 million tonnes.

The Singapore Registry of Ships
The Singapore Registry of Ships also achieved growth, with the total tonnage of ships under the Singapore flag growing by some 10.4 per cent over 2007 to reach 43.7 million GT as of end December 2008.