S'pore shipping traffic falls

S'pore shipping traffic falls

SINGAPORE (AP): The number of shipping containers passing
through Singapore - generally considered the world's busiest
seaport - dropped by 13 percent in the first three months of this
year, a news report said.

Singapore handled 3.68 million 20-foot equivalent units or
TEUs in the first quarter of 2001, down from 4.23 million TEUs in
the same period a year earlier, The Business Times newspaper
reported, quoting figures from the Maritime and Port Authority or
MPA.

MPA public relations staff contacted Saturday said they could
not immediately comment on the report.

Singapore port operator PSA Corporation said its container
volumes were dropping "with the world and U.S. economic slowdown
affecting global trade."

"As the world's largest container transshipment hub, PSA's
container volumes in Singapore are directly dependent on the
world economy and trade flows," PSA said Saturday in a statement.