Forum: Singapore’s CIQ arrangements designed to support safe, orderly vessel movements

We thank Mr Goh Ee Kiat for his letter, “

Bring down CIQ costs for pleasure craft owners in Singapore

” (Jan 7). In his letter, Mr Goh highlighted the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) cost that pleasure craft owners face, which can include the requirement for a security bond. Mr Goh also suggested that Marina South Pier (MSP) be used for CIQ clearance for pleasure craft.

Pleasure craft owners may transact directly with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on immigration procedures relating to the clearance of pleasure craft, or appoint an authorised agent to do so on their behalf. Authorised agents can play a role for pleasure craft owners in coordinating with relevant authorities and submitting crew and passenger manifests.

Owners may choose whether or not to engage an agent. For those who choose to transact directly with ICA, a security deposit is imposed as a safeguard to cover potential compliance risks, such as breaches of prevailing immigration laws and regulations. It will not be drawn down if the laws and regulations are fully complied with.

Apart from this, ICA does not impose any other fees on pleasure craft owners. On port clearance matters, Singpass holders may manage them directly through a DigitalPort account without the need for a licensed agent.

As for locations of CIQ facilities for pleasure craft, these are located at sites where there is regular demand and are configured based on the volume and profiles of their primary users. Their locations also take into account the need to ensure safe segregation of navigation routes for different vessel types.

For pleasure craft, CIQ clearance is conducted mainly at designated marinas at OneDegree15 Marina and Raffles Marina, which also supports craft waiting and layover requirements. MSP is used by domestic ferry services and harbour craft which support our port operations.

We will continue to design Singapore’s CIQ arrangements in ways that support safe, secure and orderly vessel movements in one of the world’s busiest ports, while making prudent use of our limited resources.

Patrick Ong
Deputy Director, Corporate Communications
Corporate Communications and Service Division
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority

Chong Jia Chyuan
Port Master
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore