THE SEA-AIR STRATEGY TO PROMOTE SINGAPORE AS A TRANSHIPMENT HUB

Abstract

Modem Singapore was founded as a trading centre with the transportation of goods as an integral part of daily activities. Singapore has come a Jong way since her humble beginnings as an entrepot port more than 170 years ago. Today she features as a leading transfer port, where sea and air cargo is collected from the region and redistributed via Singapore to other international markets. The port of Singapore is currently the world's busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage, and it has also clinched the position of being the world's top container port. Changi Airport is currently ranked tenth in terms of its total international airfreight volume handled Through strategic planning, Singapore has managed to thrive amidst the stiff competition worldwide. This Academic Exercise seeks to examine one of the strategies implemented to enhance Singapore's competitiveness as a transport hub - sea-air transhipment. The sea-air intermodal transportation service, popularised only in the 1980s. is considered a relatively recent entrant into the transportation industry. As a combination of two vastly different modes of transportation characterised by the different types of cargo carried, size of shipments and handling requirements, it involves the movement of cargo by sea on the first leg and air on the second. The transfer of cargo between the two modes of transportation takes place at an interchange - a transhipment hub - where the containerised cargo is unloaded at the seaport and speedily expedited to the airport. Though both the sea and air transportation sectors are involved in sea-air transhipment, it is considered relatively more important to the airfreight industry since it contributes more significantly to aircargo throughput. The sea-air strategy to promote Singapore as a transhipment hub had its beginnings in 1985. Singapore's interest in sea-air cargo stemmed from the recognition that this sector would give the airfreight industry a badly needed boost to increase the total aircargo throughput. Aggressive promotion efforts were made to attract sea-air shipments to move via Singapore. The initial response to these efforts was encouraging, with impressive double digit growth rates being registered. However, with the onset of the 1990s, a reversal in the pattern of sea-air growth has been observed, with little indication of recovery in throughput. This poor pcrfom1ance in recent years leads one to question the growth potential of this intermodal transhipment service in Singapore This study attempts to explain the development trends of sea-air transhipment in Singapore and to assess the viability of this mode to users and operators The sea-air strategy itself is also examined in terms of its success in promoting Singapore as a transhipment hub. It is hoped that valuable lessons can be drawn from this experience to serve as a guide in the planning of future strategies to Singapore's hubbing potential.