The new infrastructure will progressively replace the current terminals of Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Brani, and Pasir Panjang, which will be decommissioned by 2027
Singapore aims to strengthen its strategic role in global trade with the construction of the Tuas Mega Port, destined to become the world’s largest automated container terminal. The project, initiated in 2016, involves a total investment of 20 billion Singapore dollars and will be articulated in four phases, with the goal of concentrating all of the country’s port activities into a single facility by 2040.
The new infrastructure will progressively replace the current terminals of Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Brani, and Pasir Panjang, which will be decommissioned by 2027. The Tuas Mega Port began operations in September 2021 with three operational berths. By February 2025, the active berths had increased to eleven. The first phase will be completed in 2027 with a total of 21 operational berths.
Once completed, the terminal will have an annual capacity of 65 million TEUs, more than double the current capacity of the port of Singapore. The entire infrastructure will cover an area twice the size of the city of Ang Mo Kio and will include 26 kilometers of deep-water berths, capable of accommodating the world’s largest container ships.
A distinctive element of the project is its full automation: the terminal will be served by over one thousand autonomous electric vehicles and approximately one thousand automated cranes for loading and unloading operations. The management of logistics activities will be entrusted to an integrated operating system developed by PSA International, capable of coordinating in real-time autonomous vehicles, handling equipment, and container flows, with the aid of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics.
Alongside the industrial infrastructure, the creation of an elevated zone of approximately 150 hectares is also planned, intended for commercial and recreational activities, with pedestrian paths, green spaces, and retail outlets. The area, situated about 42 meters above ground, will be connected to the public transport network via a planned extension of the Mrt Tuas South line.
The construction of the port is accompanied by a vast coastal reclamation program, with the recovery of 172 hectares of new land between 2025 and 2029 in the northern area of the Tuas basin. Testing is underway for the use of ash from the offshore Semakau landfill as an alternative material to sand for seabed filling, in order to reduce the environmental impact.
Meanwhile, the port of Singapore has already set a new container traffic record in 2024, with 41.12 million TEUs handled, an increase from the 39.01 million in 2023. These results confirm the city-state’s centrality in Asian and global logistics flows and reinforce the prospect that the Tuas Mega Port will become a strategic hub of the first order in international maritime trade.
