(EnergyAsia, January 13 2012, Friday) --- Singapore’s port continued to grow, registering increases in all areas of performance in 2011 despite a challenging year for the maritime industry, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, provided the estimates for several areas of the port performances at the Singapore Maritime Foundation New Year cocktail reception yesterday.

This included vessel arrival tonnage (up 10.5%), container and cargo throughput (5.3%), cargo throughput (5.4%), bunker sales (5.6%) and ship registration (17.6%).
Annual vessel arrival tonnage reached 2.12 billion GT in 2011 compared with 1.92 billion GT in 2010. Container ships and tankers were the top contributors, accounting for 31% and 30.8% of the total.

Container throughput grew by 5.3% to reach a record 29.9 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2011 while cargo throughput rose by 5.4% to a record 530.5 million tonnes.

The port sold a record volume of bunker fuel of 43.2 million tonnes, up from 40.9 million tonnes in 2010.

The Singapore Registry of Ships grew by 17.6% or 8.6 million GT in 2011. As of end December 2011, Singapore-flagged ships weighed a total of 57.4 million GT, making Singapore among the top 10 ship registries in the world.

Singapore continues to attract a diverse range of maritime businesses, and is the base for more than 120 international shipping groups. The maritime cluster employs more than 170,000 people and contributes some seven per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.