The Hub We Aim to be Like
Iused to hear a lot about Singapore being a transhub but it did not quite have an exact approximate of how it would be. This past week I had the opportunity to see for myself just how big a transshipment hub Singapore really is, thanks to Fiji Airways and Singapore Tourism board.
Fiji Airways with its inaugural Nadi-Singapore flight took journalists from five media organisations to experience Singapore which was sponsored jointly with Singapore Tourism Board. High up on level 56 of the famous Marina Bay Sands, you can look out the harbour and see literally hundreds of cargo ships either waiting to berth or moving out.
In fact, the locals said the sea water in Singapore was not very clean because of the large number of ships coming in and going out. I tried to count the number of ships, but really could not go beyond 100 as there were still many many more and this was only from one angle.
Singapore as transhipment hun
Transhipment is the transfer of containers from one vessel to another vessel bound for its final destination, whereas in transit. This is essentially the business Port of Singapore is in and what Fiji aims to be in the South Pacific given the strategic location.
Singapore’s strategic location in the heart of Southeast Asia and at the nexus of major shipping routes has made it an important logistic hub and conduit for world trade. Being the world’s top transhipment hub, Singapore is connected to 600 ports, with daily sailings to every major port of call in the world.
With its unrivalled connectivity, many small feeder vessels bring containers to Singapore. At the Port of Singapore, these containers get loaded onto large vessels which will then carry the shipment to their final destination. Why tranship? The value of transhipment lies in that it is more cost efficient and time saving than the vessel making a single direct voyage.
In fact, 85 per cent of the cargo that comes through Port of a Singapore is for transhipment.
It would not be incorrect to say the Singapore economy is largely dependent and made out of its shipping trade business and which gives it the high regard in the world...something which we have the potential to become as well.