A RECORD 37.5 million TEU passed through Singapore's port last year, making it the busiest transshipment hub in the world.

According to Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) statistics, the port handled some 599 million tonnes of cargo, as the Lion City proved resilient amid Covid-19 and a supply chain crisis that disrupted regular shipping patterns, reports The Straits Times.

At the same time, refuelling sales figures also crossed 50 million tonnes for only the second time in history, comprising both conventional bunker sales and liquid natural gas bunker sales, which has been put forward as a more environmentally sustainable alternative.

This allowed Singapore to retain its position as the top bunkering port, and bunkering sales likewise exceeded both those logged in 2019 and 2020.

"The Port of Singapore remained open and connected to the world in 2021 despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic," MPA said. "We will continue to diversify our fuel offerings in line with our push for maritime decarbonisation."

"This is a strong testament of Singapore's performance in not only the port sector, but also as an international maritime centre in shipping services and maritime technology."

When Covid-19 struck, the impact on Singapore's port operations, although not as severe as that on air transport, still made a dent in container throughput.

The year 2020 saw ports here handling 0.3 million TEU fewer containers compared with the previous high of 37.2 million TEU in 2019.

But the country positioned itself as a catch-up port to help other container ships reroute and shorten journeys when the supply chain crisis hit late last year, and the number of containers it processed rebounded strongly.

The 37.5 million TEU container volume last year was 0.6 million TEU higher than in 2020, and much higher than the 31.6 million TEU recorded at the start of the decade.