Singapore hits 1b gross tonnes earlier than anticipated

The port of Singapore is likely to achieve another record year in terms of shipping tonnage, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

Shipping tonnage, which refers to the total size of vessel arrivals, in Singapore so far this year has reached over 1 billion gross tonnes (GT), following a port-call by an APL Australia container ship yesterday, MPA said.

Over the past few years, vessel arrivals in terms of shipping tonnage have registered double-digit increase. This new high in terms of timescale for the 1 billion breakthrough signals that 2008 may very well be another record breaking year for the Singapore port, said Capt. M Segar, group director (hub port) for MPA.

Singapore handled 938.661 million GT from January to July this year, according to MPA statistics.

MPA data shows that Singapore's shipping tonnage has been increasing over the past few years.

Tonnage volumes have risen from 1.152 billion GT in 2005, to 1.315 billion GT in 2006, and 1.459 billion GT in 2007.