PSA (Singapore) forges car terminal joint venture
Container terminal operator PSA, which also handles vehicle transhipment, has inked a joint-venture with Japanese lines NYK and K Line to operate Singapore’s first dedicated car terminal. The agreement between the major car carriers and PSA Singapore Terminals was signed in Tokyo yesterday. The new Asia Automobile Terminal (Singapore) will be located at Singapore’s Pasir Panjang Terminal where expansion of container facilities is also taking place. AATS will operate two dedicated berths likely to be operational by January 2009. Details regarding respective stakes or size of the investment have not been revealed. Last year close to 1M vehicles were handled in Singapore. PSA has a service agreement with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines to handle ro-ro shipments in Singapore and container terminal joint-ventures with Cosco and Mediterranean Shipping Co. The port operator, which is fully owned by Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings, moved 18M tonnes of break-bulk and specialised cargo last year at its multi-purpose terminals. Demand for finished automobile transport service is expected to increase “rapidly” in Asia according to NYK, which operates 100 car carriers.