b'4American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(TOPcontinued fromgivenSingaporethegeo-page 2) graphical advantage of strad-since wresting the title fromdlingtheAsia-European Singapore in 2009.trade routes as well as to be The China factor loomspositionedinthemiddleof largerwhenyouconsidertheintra-Asiatradelanes. the top 100 container ports.Thisgeographicalconver-China has 24 ports within thegenceenablesthePortof top 100 container ports in theSingapore to be both an inter-worldasrankedbyannualnational containership hub as TEU throughput. By way ofwell as a regional transship-comparison all of Europe hasmentport.Buttomaintain only nineteen container portsthesedual-rolesSingapore on the list and North Amer- has had to be in the forefront ica ten.of being big ship ready [With Thisisnottosaythethe big in big ships rapidly tariffwarbetweentheUSmoving from 9,000 TEUs to andChinaandthemorenow24,000TEUswiththeThe new Tuas Port, when fully completed in 2040, is expected to be worlds largest fully automated terminal.recentCovid-19inducedlaunch of HMMs new class] recession havent taken theirwhile maintaining the abilitytobeworldslargestfullyterminal efficiency consolida- pletion of the Tuas Terminal, toll on box figures. The daystoefficientlyhandlesmallerautomated terminal, featuringtion: Singapore currently hasallcityterminalsatTanjong of mailing it in double digitshipsandtodosowithinautomatedwharfandyardfive container terminals Tan- Pagar, Pasir Panjang, Keppel portgrowthfromorganicthelandsideconfinesofanfunctions,andfull-electricjongPagar,Keppel,Brani,and Brani, will eventually be increasesincontainership- island city-state. automatedguidedvehicles.Pasir Panjang Terminal 1 andmergedatTuas.Whenfull ping appear to be over. BlankTo help keep pace, PSAThe greenfield site [built onPasir Panjang Terminal 2 andcompletedtheterminalwill sailings and container vesselbrokegroundinOctoberreclaimedland]representstrucktransshipmentbetweenbe able to handle 65 million layups have hit all-time highsof2019onthenewTuasasignificantinvestmentforterminals is an inefficient butTEUs15 million TEUs more andtherearenoguaranteesPort which when fully com- land-challenged Singapore.necessary solution to the ter- (TOPcontinued on of quick return to normal in apletedin2040,isexpectedThe concept is to increaseminal spread. With the com- page 14)post-pandemic economy. The tariff-wars have already acceleratedtheprocessof de-couplingsourcingfrom Chinaandinmanycases, re-establishingsourcingin Southeast Asia. The evidence of the new sourcing is in the rise of Southeast Asias port numbers. Cap Mai in Vietnam is now at 3.75 million TEUs, and Ho Chi Minh City (Dong Nai/CatLai)handlednearly 6.6millionTEUsin2019. Bothportswouldnthave madethetop100adecade ago.Buttheexpansioninto SouthAsiaisnotexclusive to Vietnam. Thailands Laem Chabangrecordedover8 million TEUs, Manila over 5 million TEUs and the Malay-sian ports of Port Klang and Port Tanjung Pelepas cleared over 12 million TEUs and 9 million TEUs respectively in 2019. AndIndonesiasprin-cipal container port Tanjung Priokrecorded7.9million TEUsin2019,justmore evidence of the extent of the shift of sourcing to Southeast Asia. Intra-Asian trade lanes are now estimated to be the largest in the world eclipsing the traditional linehaul lanes of China to Europe and China to North America. B igs hips , B igp orts andB igF uturesThebiggestrecipientof theSoutheastAsiansourc-ingsurgecouldbethePort ofSingaporetheworlds 2nd largest container port at almost37.2millionTEUs. The continued growth of the Port of Singapore is remark-ableandattributabletothe ability of the Port Singapore Authority (PSA) to adjust to thechangingeconomiccli-mate.ThePorthasbecome abellwetherforotherports in the world seeking a com-passfornavigatingthe often-bewilderingconditions facing port planners.Being at the eastern end of the Straits of Malacca has'