Heavy congestion at S’pore port causes shipping delays of up to 7 days with over 400,000 units waiting to berth

Heavy congestion at Singapore port leads to shipping delays of up to 7 days

Over the past weeks, shipping delays in Singapore have more than doubled, with some days reaching 7 days.

This comes as a shortage of container ships and port congestion threaten to spark a supply chain crisis. Speculations

Port operator PSA Singapore is actively working with shipping lines to mitigate disruptions, coordinating vessel arrival times and volume information in advance.

Singapore port faces double the amount of delays

Shipping delays at Singapore port have reached “critical levels”, reports Business Times (BT).

Linerlytica, a market intelligence website for the container industry, further explained that in recent days, Singapore Port has faced berthing delays of up to 7 days with the total capacity waiting to berth rising to 450,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, the size of a standard shipping container).

This could mean “higher prices for consumers”, Channel News Asia (CNA) reports.

The backlog at Singapore port has forced some operators to divert their vessels elsewhere. The congestion is expected to worsen in June, potentially impacting other ports as they struggle to handle the additional container volumes redirected from Singapore.

8.8% increase in vessel arrivals in 2024

The bottlenecks in Singapore’s port are attributed to several factors, including diversions due to unrest in the Red Sea and a rush by Chinese exporters to ship goods ahead of new US trade tariffs, as reported by CNA. The United States recently announced significant tariff increases on imports from China, prompting exporters to expedite shipments.

According to The Strait Times (ST), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) reported a significant increase of 8.8% in vessel arrivals compared to last year, with large increases in container volumes and vessels arriving off-schedule. In May, Singapore’s port has already received about 1,000 ships this month, up from 639 in April.

PSA addresses congestion issues

In light of the situation, port operator PSA Singapore has increased its manpower and container handling capacity, ST reports.

The operator reactivated older berths and yards at Keppel Terminal, increasing the weekly handling capacity from 770,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 820,000 TEUs.

Additionally, MPA reported that three new berths at Tuas Port are set to commence operations later this year, supplementing the existing eight berths.

MPA and PSA are collaborating closely with container lines to adjust arrival schedules and minimize delays.

According to MPA, while container ships face delays, other vessels—accounting for about two-thirds of arrivals—are not experiencing significant berthing delays. Resupply and bunkering activities within the anchorages also remain unaffected.

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