Volume soars at China-Singapore container terminal

The super-sized container ship Cosco Shipping Virgo, which has a deck area as large as four football fields, was delivered by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co at a port on May 29, 2018. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A Singapore terminal jointly invested in by the city-state's port authority and a Chinese shipping giant has witnessed a boom in container throughput from countries involved in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The terminal's senior managers said they valued the cooperation between the two partners - Port of Singapore Authority and China COSCO Shipping Corp.

"Our terminal's total volume of loaded and unloaded containers shipped by China COSCO Shipping Corp reached 1.91 million standard TEU containers (or twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2017, rising 61.6 percent yearly," said Yang Jian, general manager of the COSCO-PSA Terminal.

The joint project terminal first began operations in 2003 with PSA International, the predecessor to Port of Singapore Authority.

The majority of containers at COSCO-PSA Terminal originate from or are destined for Asia and Europe, which are the main regions involved in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

In the first half of the year, over 1 million TEUs passed through the terminal, up 47 percent year-on-year, according to COSCO.

Around 81 percent of the total originated from Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean, the company said.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road was conceived along with the Silk Road Economic Belt by China in 2013. They aim to promote trade, financing and cultural exchanges among countries participating in the initiative.

"Rapid throughput growth at the terminal began in 2015 and total volume is estimated to hit 2.4 million TEUs this year," Yang said.

Adrian Sim, assistant vice-president of the port authority, said PSA pays a great deal of attention to cooperation with COSCO, and they will continue to support each other.

"We will carry on engaging in long-term cooperation with COSCO to have more containers from China transshipped via Singapore in the future," he said.

COSCO-PSA Terminal is located in the Pasir Panjang Terminal area and it can accommodate the world's largest container ship, which has a capacity of 21,000 TEUs.

"Pasir Panjang Terminal area has great resources in terms of water depth, equipment, loading and unloading efficiency, terminal management and talent," Yang said.

COSCO-PSA Terminal had two smaller berths before they were expanded in 2017 to cope with increasing container throughput. COSCOPSA Terminal also began operating a new berth this year.

Singapore has the world's second-largest container throughput and is the biggest container-transshipped pivot. It is located near the Strait of Malacca connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans, and serves as a passageway between Asia and Europe.

Therefore, Singapore is also a vital hub for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road due to its enviable geographic position. COSCO Shipping currently has a total of 44 container shipping routes passing through Singapore, 39 of which make stops along the maritime Silk Road, including ports in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.