Singapore's maritime industry got excellent performance in 2006, Minister for Transport Raymond Lim said here on Wednesday night.

The performance put the city-state's port again in pole position globally in terms of container throughput, shipping tonnage and bunker sales, Lim said at the maritime foundation's New Year reception.

Last year, the Singapore port handled some 24.8 million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs), an increase of 6.9 percent over 2005, according to Lim.

Total vessel arrivals at the port grew by 14.2 percent to reach 1.3 billion gross tons, and bunker sales also exceeded the previous year's record by 11.4 percent to reach 28.4 million tones.

He added that Singapore also made good progress as a leading base for shipping in Asia.

According to the 2006 report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Singapore was the 10th most important maritime nation in terms of vessel tonnage controlled, moving up one notch from the previous year.

The Singapore Registry of Ships, the fourth largest in the world,grew by 5.6 percent to reach 34.8 million gross tons last year.

According to Lim, Singapore has also made progress in the safety and security of shipping.

Singapore has adopted the Harbor Craft Transponder System from Jan. 1 this year, a new system to better monitor the movement of vessels in port waters.

The Information Sharing Center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) launched last November.

The security of ships further afield will also be improved with the establishment of the first international organization to fight piracy in Asia, Lim said.