S'pore port ready for demand uptick should Red Sea route reopen

Singapore port operator PSA is preparing for the potential return of ships through the Suez Canal, after carriers spent nearly two years diverting vessels around Africa to avoid violence by Yemeni rebels operating in the Red Sea.

- Kang Wan Chern Deputy Business Editor

A return to shipping through the Suez will shorten delivery times and potentially reduce freight rates for retailers and their customers in the long term. However, heavier traffic at major transshipment ports like Singapore is expected over the short term as shipping schedules and services are adjusted, analysts said.

From Dec 18 to Dec 19, a Singapore-flagged Maersk vessel successfully transited the Babel-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea under "the highest possible safety measures", Maersk said in a statement. It is a first step towards gradually resuming navigation along the East-West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, although there are no other planned sailings for now.

Earlier in December, French liner CMA CGM had also indicated that its vessels could resume travel through the Suez Canal on outbound and return trips between India and Pakistan and the US east coast, with the first ship to depart from Karachi in January.

A spokesperson for PSA told The Straits Times that the port operator is closely monitoring the evolving situation involving vessels rerouting through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

"For PSA Singapore, as the world's largest transshipment hub, we are anticipating demand to be elevated due to a surge in arrival of vessels on the Eastbound route, particularly in the initial weeks following the rerouting," the spokesperson said.