It hit the mark four months ahead compared to four years ago when the shipping tonnage surpassed the billionth figure in December in 2004, said a statement from the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore on Friday.

The vessel which crossed the one billion mark was APL Australia, a container ship of 50,243 gross tons (GT), which arrived at port on Thursday at 10.25 am.

Said Captain M. Segar, MPA's Group Director (Hub Port): 'Over the past few years, vessel arrivals in terms of shipping tonnage have registered double-digit increase.

'This new high in terms of timescale for the one billion breakthrough signals that 2008 may very well be another record breaking year for the Singapore port.'

The billionth mark for 2005, 2006, and 2007 was achieved in Nov, Oct and Sept respectively.

MPA said vessel arrivals in terms of shipping tonnage have been increasing over the past few years, from 1.042 billion GT in 2004, to 1.152 billion GT in 2005, 1.315 billion GT in 2006, and 1.459 billion GT in 2007.