PSA Singapore has joined hands with Japanese shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) to form a joint-venture terminal at Pasir Panjang Terminal from next year, the two parties said in a joint statement yesterday.

PSA and ONE will operate four mega container berths from the first half of the year, subject to regulatory approval. They will have a combined handling capacity of four million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The Japanese shipping company is the world's sixth-largest container carrier, operating more than 250 vessels of approximately 1.5 million TEUs. It has its global headquarters in Singapore.

ONE chief executive Jeremy Nixon said that through this joint venture, the company will be able to enhance its terminal and vessel planning operations through closer cooperation with PSA.

"This will improve our service reliability and benefit our customers through better service levels."

PSA regional South-east Asia chief executive Ong Kim Pong described the partnership as a mutually beneficial one.

"We look forward to working alongside ONE to grow its value, strengthen its position as a major global player and, at the same time, enhance the status of the Port of Singapore as a premier global container and cargo orchestration hub," he said.

PSA handled 33.35 million TEUs of containers last year.

Ng Jun Sen