The second phase for a digital portal branded ‘digitalPORT@SG’ has been launched, during Singapore Maritime Week, to provide shipping companies, terminal operators, and marine service providers with real-time information on ship arrival and departure times at Singapore’s ports.
The portal’s second phase will support over 2,000 maritime companies and reduce port stops by up to a day or more when it is fully implemented. By the second quarter of 2021, container lines like Cosco Shipping Lines and Maersk Group will begin testing the system. Oil tankers and bunker carriers will be included in the trial by the end of 2021. The first phase of the digital portal was launched in 2019 and aims to combine 16 different forms for port, vessel, and immigration clearances into a single form.
The digitalisation initiative is expected to reduce ship berthing wait times in Singapore, lowering business costs and reducing the amount of carbon emissions emitted while ships are idle. The platform offers real-time information for port stakeholders to better organise, schedule, and assign port resources so that calling ships can maximise their sailing speed, route, or arrival time to achieve berth-on-arrival and smooth operation of marine services in the Singapore port.