Singapore Passenger Vessel Sector to Receive Economic Aid
Economic relief is on its way for Singapore's passenger vessel owners and operators, as well as passenger terminal operators, who have seen a drop in passenger volumes due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, announced Thursday, as part of the Resilience Budget.
The 50% port dues concession to passenger vessels from March 1 to August 31, announced by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore's (MPA) in February, will extend for another four months until December 31, 2020. All regional ferries and cruise vessels with a port stay of not more than five days, and passenger-carrying harbor craft will qualify for this concession.
This will be on top of all existing port dues concessions, including port dues concession for vessels under the Maritime Singapore Green Initiative, and 20% port dues concession given to qualifying passenger cruise ships.
In addition, MPA will work with passenger terminal operator, Singapore Cruise Centre Pte. Ltd. (SCCPL), to provide support to regional ferry operators. SCCPL has given a 15% rebate to regional ferry operators to offset their monthly rental fees for overnight berthing of vessels and counter rental at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal for three months from March 2020. MPA will provide an additional 35% rebate to these operators, bringing the total rebates to 50%.
MPA will also grant passenger terminal operators, SCCPL and SATS-Creuers Cruise Services Pte. Ltd., a 100% waiver of their public license fees for one year.