SINGAPORE AWARDS US$1.1B PORT EXPANSION JOB

City-state’s move to sustain lead as global maritime nation

SINGAPORE yesterday announced a US$1.1 billion (RM4.3 billion) plan to expand and modernise its port, the world’s second-biggest, but which is in fierce competition with several Chinese harbours, including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it has awarded a project worth S$1.46 billion (RM4.3 billion) for the second phase of its Tuas Terminal port development to a joint venture of firms, including South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction.

Other companies in the joint venture include Japan’s PentaOcean Construction Co Ltd and Boskalis International from the Netherlands.

Works under this phase will include the design and construction of a 387ha reclaimed site.

“The Tuas Terminal development is a testament to Singapore’s commitment to sustain its lead as a global maritime nation,” said MPA.

Phase Two is part of a fourstage development over 30 years, with the first phase of reclamation works scheduled to be completed by the early 2020s and the second phase in the mid-2020s.

The container terminal will have a capacity of about 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units when completed.

Part of the development is to move nearly all of the port facilities out of Singapore’s Central Business District westward to Tuas, a region of the city-state that is dominated by industrial developments.

Singapore is the world’s second-biggest port, after Shanghai, according to data from the World Shipping Council, benefiting from its location on the Straits of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes that connects Europe and the Middle East with Asia.

But the city-state faces competition from ports in China, which have increased their capacity in recent years.

Of the world’s top 10 container ports, seven are in China.