Singapore port’s shipping tonnage passes 1 billion for first time

Singapore port’s shipping tonnage passes 1 billion for first time    The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) reported that total shipping tonnage in 2004 reached 1 billion for the first time in the port’s history.
   The total was a 5.7 percent increase over 2003’s 986 million gross tons. The record was achieved despite a marginal decline in the total number of vessel calls, from 135,386 in 2003 to 133,185 in 2004.
   Container traffic jumped 15.9 percent in 2004 to 21.3 million TEUs, compared to 18.4 million in 2003. Earlier this month, mega-port operator PSA Corp. Ltd. reported it handled 20.6 million TEUs at its terminals in Singapore in 2004.
   According to the MPA, the Singapore registry of ships jumped from the seventh to the sixth-largest merchant fleet in the world, with 3,109 ships under the Singapore flag totaling 27.7 million gross tons. This represents an 8.4 percent increase from 25.6 million gross tons at the end of 2003.