Ringo33
02-10-12, 22:00
City terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Pulau Brani will start making way for residential and commercial purpose in 10 years time. I wonder with this massive supply of land and migration of jobs and businesses to the west, will this create an over supply effect on property prices in southern region, and a boost for property demand in the west.
[SINGAPORE] In about 10 years' time, Singapore will begin transhipment port activities from a very different location: in Tuas, close to the Republic's industrial heart and also international shipping lanes.
All of Singapore's container port activities will be consolidated in a new Tuas Port development that can handle up to 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, said Minister of Transport Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.
That is nearly double PSA Singapore terminals' current capacity of 35 million TEUs. It also dwarfs Port of Singapore's record container throughput in 2011 of 29.94 million TEUs.
The first berths at Tuas will begin operations 10 years from now, in time for when Singapore's city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Pulau Brani, end their leases in 2027.
Singapore has two other existing terminals in Pasir Panjang Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, which were completed in 2010.
"Over the longer term, not only the city terminals but also the Pasir Panjang (terminals) will be eventually merged at Tuas," said Mr Lui.
In the meantime, port operator PSA Singapore is going ahead with Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4. It announced yesterday at a launch ceremony that it will spend $3.5 billion on the expansion project.
Phases 3 and 4 will add 250 hectares of terminal space, as well as 15 new berths and about six kilometres of quay length.
Moreover, they will deepen PSA Singapore's maximum draft to 18 metres from 16 metres to accommodate the new generation of mega-sized containerships which can carry 18,000 twenty-foot containers.
When both phases are ready by 2020, they will add 15 million TEUs of capacity at Singapore's top container handler to 50 million TEUs. That, however, is still 15 million container boxes fewer than what Tuas Port can handle.
Mr Lui, the guest of honour at the launch, said Tuas Port will be developed, like Pasir Panjang Terminal, in phases.
He explained that Tuas Port would free up prime land for re-development.
Centralising all port activities in Tuas will help boost efficiency and economies of scale - elements critical to a transhipment port.
"Currently, we have five container terminals . . . To support transhipment operations, there is often a need to move containers between these terminals by trucks. This adds to the time taken and business costs for port operations, as well as congestions on our roads," Mr Lui said. "Consolidation will eliminate this need for inter-terminal haulage."
Tuas Port will moreover give Singapore a "clean slate" to introduce new technologies and processes to respond to future challenges in shipping such as larger and more complex ships as well as ships powered by liquified natural gas and other alternative fuels, said Mr Lui.
And with Singapore's manpower and land constraints, the new port would have to be more efficient and productive.
Singapore has begun funding research into automating port systems, optimization techniques and technologies under a Port Technology Research and Development Programme launched in April 2011.
"We will be able to deploy some of the outcomes of these projects at Tuas Port," he said.
The future is already part-way here. Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4 will sport automated and efficient port features.
Group CEO of PSA International Tan Chong Meng said an intelligent planning and operation system will manage a fleet of unmanned rail mounted gantry cranes. All cranes at PPT Phases 3 and 4 will run on electricity and are more environmentally-friendly.
"More automation will also mean greater demand for better-trained employees equipped with higher skill sets to manage these advanced operating systems," said Mr Tan.
Fox Chu, Accenture director of ports industry, Asia-Pacific, was positive on PSA Singapore's investment. "PSA Singapore Terminals is among the few terminals in the world with the scale, productivity and management expertise to provide reliable and efficient services to our customers," he said. "To attain its position, PSA has to match, if not surpass, the port investment of other Asia hub ports."
[SINGAPORE] In about 10 years' time, Singapore will begin transhipment port activities from a very different location: in Tuas, close to the Republic's industrial heart and also international shipping lanes.
All of Singapore's container port activities will be consolidated in a new Tuas Port development that can handle up to 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year, said Minister of Transport Lui Tuck Yew yesterday.
That is nearly double PSA Singapore terminals' current capacity of 35 million TEUs. It also dwarfs Port of Singapore's record container throughput in 2011 of 29.94 million TEUs.
The first berths at Tuas will begin operations 10 years from now, in time for when Singapore's city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Pulau Brani, end their leases in 2027.
Singapore has two other existing terminals in Pasir Panjang Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, which were completed in 2010.
"Over the longer term, not only the city terminals but also the Pasir Panjang (terminals) will be eventually merged at Tuas," said Mr Lui.
In the meantime, port operator PSA Singapore is going ahead with Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4. It announced yesterday at a launch ceremony that it will spend $3.5 billion on the expansion project.
Phases 3 and 4 will add 250 hectares of terminal space, as well as 15 new berths and about six kilometres of quay length.
Moreover, they will deepen PSA Singapore's maximum draft to 18 metres from 16 metres to accommodate the new generation of mega-sized containerships which can carry 18,000 twenty-foot containers.
When both phases are ready by 2020, they will add 15 million TEUs of capacity at Singapore's top container handler to 50 million TEUs. That, however, is still 15 million container boxes fewer than what Tuas Port can handle.
Mr Lui, the guest of honour at the launch, said Tuas Port will be developed, like Pasir Panjang Terminal, in phases.
He explained that Tuas Port would free up prime land for re-development.
Centralising all port activities in Tuas will help boost efficiency and economies of scale - elements critical to a transhipment port.
"Currently, we have five container terminals . . . To support transhipment operations, there is often a need to move containers between these terminals by trucks. This adds to the time taken and business costs for port operations, as well as congestions on our roads," Mr Lui said. "Consolidation will eliminate this need for inter-terminal haulage."
Tuas Port will moreover give Singapore a "clean slate" to introduce new technologies and processes to respond to future challenges in shipping such as larger and more complex ships as well as ships powered by liquified natural gas and other alternative fuels, said Mr Lui.
And with Singapore's manpower and land constraints, the new port would have to be more efficient and productive.
Singapore has begun funding research into automating port systems, optimization techniques and technologies under a Port Technology Research and Development Programme launched in April 2011.
"We will be able to deploy some of the outcomes of these projects at Tuas Port," he said.
The future is already part-way here. Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4 will sport automated and efficient port features.
Group CEO of PSA International Tan Chong Meng said an intelligent planning and operation system will manage a fleet of unmanned rail mounted gantry cranes. All cranes at PPT Phases 3 and 4 will run on electricity and are more environmentally-friendly.
"More automation will also mean greater demand for better-trained employees equipped with higher skill sets to manage these advanced operating systems," said Mr Tan.
Fox Chu, Accenture director of ports industry, Asia-Pacific, was positive on PSA Singapore's investment. "PSA Singapore Terminals is among the few terminals in the world with the scale, productivity and management expertise to provide reliable and efficient services to our customers," he said. "To attain its position, PSA has to match, if not surpass, the port investment of other Asia hub ports."