SINGAPORE set new records last year in terms of vessel arrival tonnage and amount of cargo handled, according to advanced estimates.

Vessel arrival tonnage - the cargo-carrying capacity of ships rather than their weight - is estimated to have hit 2.33 billion gross tons, up 3.2 per cent on 2012's previous record of 2.25 billion gross tons.

The port is estimated to have handled a record 32.6 million containers, a rise of 2.9 per cent from a year earlier.

The figures were announced on Tuesday night by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, who was speaking at the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) New Year cocktail reception at the Regent Singapore.

The numbers show that Singapore remains the world's busiest port by vessel arrival tonnage.

It is also the world's top bunkering port. About 42.5 million tonnes of bunker fuel - burnt by ships on their voyages - were sold here last year, although that was a dip from 42.7 million tonnes in 2012.

Singapore remains second in terms of containers handled, after Shanghai which handled 33.6 million boxes last year, a rise of 3.4 per cent from 2012.