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SINGAPORE'S
PSA International, one of the leading global
terminal operators, is finding it tough-going
in the Indian Subcontinent it would seem.
First there
was the unexpected exit from Pakistan's
Gwadar Port project and more recently in
India the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT)
cancelled a contract with PSA to develop
a container terminal¡Xthe value of which
was estimated to have been worth US$1.5
billion.
The two events,
some would say, have dealt a decisive blow
to PSA's ongoing drive to expand its presence
in South Asia¡K
Of course the
terminal operator is not without a presence
in the region, with facilities in Kandla
and Chennai. But in terms of volumes, neither
of these come close to the throughput numbers
and potential numbers that JNPT offers¡Xafter
all, this is still the leading gateway into
India.
Industry watchers
have long wondered why PSA never made an
aggressive bid for the Sri Lankan port of
Hambantota, whatever the political posturings
behind the then competing bids of the Indian
and Chinese governments.
As usual PSA
officials will neither comment nor speculate
on the outcome of all these developments
beyond the customarily mandated politesse
of "no comment".
Yet given what
PSA is and what PSA will always be, the
Singaporean icon is undeterred.
In news releases
to HKSG Group Media it said
that it will be investing some $2.8billion
in infrastructure and port technology to
develop Phases 3 and 4 of its Pasir Panjang
Terminal.
The upgrades
and redevelopment are all part of a plan
to accommodate the VLCS (Very Large Containerships)
and ULCS (Ultra Large Containerships) of
the future, now increasingly traversing
the world's oceans.
PSA's CEO Tan
Chong Meng told the media recently, "While
mega-vessels are already a common sight
at our terminals today, they are growing
even larger for greater economies of scale".
PSA's avowed
aim is to always snag top-flight status
with top-flight equipment.
Plans are actually underway to install
automated container yards with proprietary
intelligent planning and operation systems,
unmanned and rail-mounted gantry cranes
to be run on electricity.
Additionally there is to be a quest for
"novel" port designs.
The grandiose schemes are all part of
a national overarching plan geared towards
consigning all port activities to the seemingly
barren and sleepy outpost of Tuas in south-western
Singapore.
Lying at the farther most, outer circumference
of Singapore, Tuas does indeed make an ideal
spot especially when it grants a spectator's
view of ships and tankers headed to North
Asia as they make their way past the effluent
waters in the Malacca Straits.
Tuas is not overshadowed by traffic gridlock
seen in the thereabouts of the current Tanjung
Pagar terminal or the "container jungle"
features dotting the former naval outpost
in Brani Terminal.
It is tucked safely away and rarely visited
by Singaporeans owing to nothing more than
its distance from the city-centre.
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