Port of Singapore

Xabandaria (the Shahbandar's place) marked in this 1604 map of Singapore by Godinho de Erédia. The map is orientated with the South towards the top left.

In the late 13th century, a Kingdom known as Singapura was established on the north bank of the Singapore River around what was called the Old Harbour. It was the only port in the southern part of the Strait of Malacca and serviced ships and traders in the region, competing with other ports along the coast of the Malacca Strait such as Jambi, Kota Cina, Lambri, Semudra, Palembang, South Kedah and Tamiang. The port had two functions. First, it made available products that were in demand by international markets; according to the Daoyi Zhilüe (Brief Annals of Foreign Islands, 1349)[4] by Chinese trader Wang Dayuan (born 1311, fl. 1328–1339), these included top-quality hornbill casques,[5] lakawood and cotton. Although these goods were also available from other Southeast Asian ports, those from Singapore were unique in terms of their quality. Secondly, Singapore acted as a gateway into the regional and international economic system for its immediate region. South Johor and the Riau Archipelago supplied products to Singapore for export elsewhere, while Singapore was the main source of foreign products to the region. Archaeological artefacts such as ceramics and glassware found in the Riau Archipelago evidence this. In addition, cotton was transshipped from Java or India through Singapore.[6]

In 1984, an archaeological excavation had commenced at Fort Canning Hill led by the archaeologist Dr John Miksic. A range of artefacts including earthenware, ceramic, and porcelain pieces were found which suggests Singapore's role as an active trading port in the 14th century.[7][8]

By the 15th century, Singapore had declined as an international trading port due to the ascendance of the Malacca Sultanate. Local trade continued on the island. A map of Singapore by Portuguese mathematician Manuel Godinho de Eredia showed the location of Xabandaria or the office of a shahbandar, the Malay official responsible for international trade. Shards of 15th-century Siam ceramics and late 16th – or early 17th-century Chinese blue and white porcelain have been found at the Singapore and Kallang Rivers. Singapore also provided other regional ports with local products demanded by international markets. For instance, blackwood (a generic term used by Europeans to refer to rosewood) was exported from Singapore to Malacca, and was in turn purchased by Chinese traders and shipped to China for furniture-making:)

In the early 17th century, Singapore's main settlement and its port were destroyed by a punitive force from Aceh. After this incident, there was no significant settlement or port at Singapore until 1819.

Port at Singapore, ca. 1890

In 1819, Stamford Raffles, a British colonial official, excited by the deep and sheltered waters in Keppel Harbour, established for the British Empire a new settlement and international trading port on the island.[6] Keen to attract Asian and European traders to the new port, Raffles directed that land along the banks of the Singapore River, particularly the south bank, be reclaimed where necessary and allocated to Chinese and English country traders to encourage them to establish a stake in the port-settlement. Chinese traders, because of their frequent commercial interactions with Southeast Asian traders throughout the year, set up their trading houses along the lower reaches of the river, while English country traders, who depended on the annual arrival of trade from India, set up warehouses along the upper reaches. The port relied on three main networks of trade that existed in Southeast Asia at that time: the Chinese network, which linked Southeast Asia with the southern Chinese ports of Fujian and Guangdong; the Southeast Asian network, which linked the islands of the Indonesian archipelago; and the European and Indian Ocean network, which linked Singapore to the markets of Europe and the Indian Ocean littoral. These networks were complementary, and positioned Singapore as the transshipment point of regional and international trade. By the 1830s, Singapore had overtaken Batavia (now Jakarta) as the centre of the Chinese junk trade, and also become the centre of English country trade, in Southeast Asia. This was because Southeast Asian traders preferred the free port of Singapore to other major regional ports which had cumbersome restrictions. Singapore had also supplanted Tanjung Pinang as the export gateway for the gambier and pepper industry of the Riau–Lingga Archipelago by the 1830s, and South Johor by the 1840s. It had also become the centre of the Teochew trade in marine produce and rice.[6]

As the volume of its maritime trade increased in the 19th century, Singapore became a key port of call for sailing and steam vessels in their passage along Asian sea routes. From the 1840s, Singapore became an important coaling station for steam shipping networks that were beginning to form. Towards the late 19th century, Singapore became a staple port servicing the geographical hinterland of the Malay Peninsula. Following the institution of the British Forward Movement, Singapore became the administrative capital of British Malaya. Roads and railways were developed to transport primary materials such as crude oil, rubber and tin from the Malay Peninsula to Singapore to be processed into staple products, and then shipped to Britain and other international markets. During the colonial period, this was the most important role of the port of Singapore.[6]

Singapore ceased to be part of the British Empire when it merged with Malaysia in 1963. Singapore lost its hinterland and was no longer the administrative or economic capital of the Malay Peninsula. The processing in Singapore of raw materials extracted in the Peninsula was drastically reduced due to the absence of a common market between Singapore and the Peninsular states.[6]

Since Singapore's full independence in 1965, it has had to compete with other ports in the region to attract shipping and trade at its port. It has done so by developing an export-oriented economy based on value-added manufacturing. It obtains raw or partially manufactured products from regional and global markets and exports value-added products back to these markets through market access agreements such as World Trade Organization directives and free trade agreements.[6]

By the 1980s, maritime trading activity had ceased in the vicinity of the Singapore River except in the form of passenger transport, as other terminals and harbours took over this role. Keppel Harbour is now home to three container terminals. Other terminals were built in Jurong and Pasir Panjang as well as in Sembawang in the north. Today, the port operations in Singapore are handled by two players: PSA International (formerly the Port of Singapore Authority) and Jurong Port, which collectively operate six container terminals and three general-purpose terminals around Singapore.

In the 1990s the Port became more well-known and overtook Yokohama, and eventually became the busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage.

Singapore is part of the Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast to the southern tip of India, to Mombasa, from there through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, to the Upper Adriatic region of the northern Italian hub Trieste with its rail connections to Central Europe and the North Sea.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

The Tuas Mega Port is projected to be the only port in Singapore after the PSA city terminals and Pasir Panjang Terminal are closed in 2027 and 2040 respectively, ending an era of port operations in the city area which began in 1819.[15] The Sea Transport Industry Transformation Map (ITM) launched by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) aims to grow the industry's value-add by $4.5 billion and create more than 5,000 new jobs by 2025.

Automation will be a key part of the new port, with over 1,000 battery-powered driverless vehicles and a fleet of almost 1,000 automated yard cranes to be developed for the port. Nelson Quek, PSA Singapore's head of Tuas planning stated that "Tuas, when it's fully developed, is going to be the single largest fully-automated terminal in the world".[15] It will also be able to cater to the demands of the world's largest container ships, with 26 km of deep-water berths. Besides just handling containers, the port will have space set aside for companies to be located, a move that aims to improve the links between port and businesses.[16] It is projected to be twice the size of Ang Mo Kio new town.[15]

Operations at Tuas Mega Port began in September 2021, and the port officially opened on September 1, 2022 with three berths in service.[17][18]

The Pasir Panjang Container Terminal lies to the left and Jurong Port in the background of this panoramic view of the southwestern part of Singapore, showing the southern parts of Queenstown, and Clementi and Jurong.

The Port of Singapore with Sentosa island in the background.

• Sinnappah Arasaratnam (1972). Pre-modern Commerce and Society in Southern Asia : An Inaugural Lecture Delivered at the University of Malaya on December 21, 1971. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya.
• Borschberg, Peter (2018). “Three questions about maritime Singapore, 16th and 17th Centuries”, Ler História, 72: 31-54. https://journals.openedition.org/lerhistoria/3234
• Braddell, Roland (1980). A Study of Ancient Times in the Malay Peninsula and the Straits of Malacca and Notes on Ancient Times in Malaya / by Dato Sir Roland Braddell. Notes on the Historical Geography of Malaya / by Dato F.W. Douglas (MBRAS reprints; no. 7). Kuala Lumpur: Printed for the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society by Art Print. Works.
• Chiang, Hai Ding (1978). A History of Straits Settlements Foreign Trade, 1870–1915 (Memoirs of the National Museum; no. 6). Singapore: National Museum.
• Hall, Kenneth R. (1985). Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia. Honolulu, Hi.: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-0959-9.
• Ishii, Yoneo, ed. (1998). The Junk Trade from Southeast Asia : Translations from the Tosen Fusetsu-gaki, 1674–1723. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS); Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National History, Australian National University. ISBN 981-230-022-8.
• Miksic, John N. (1985). Archaeological Research on the "Forbidden Hill" of Singapore : Excavations at Fort Canning, 1984. Singapore: National Museum. ISBN 9971-917-16-5.
• Miksic, John N.; Cheryl-Ann Low Mei Gek (gen. eds.) (2004). Early Singapore 1300s–1819 : Evidence in Maps, Text and Artefacts. Singapore: Singapore History Museum. ISBN 981-05-0283-4.
• Ooi, Giok Ling; Brian J. Shaw (2004). Beyond the Port City : Development and Identity in 21st Century Singapore. Singapore: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-008381-X.
• Trocki, Carl A. (1979). Prince of Pirates : The Temenggongs and the Development of Johor and Singapore, 1784–1885. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-376-3.

• Yap, Chris (1990). A Port's Story, A Nation's Success. Singapore: Times Editions for Port of Singapore Authority.
• Ho, David K[im] H[in] (1996). The Seaport Economy: A Study of the Singapore Experience. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-199-X.
• Singapore Shipping: Past, Present & Future. Singapore: Singapore Shipping Association. 2000.
• Danam, Jacqueline, ed. (2003). PSA: Full Ahead. Singapore: PSA Corporation. ISBN 981-4068-47-0.