Nueva Singapur tightens screening as contraband seizures spike

The Port Authority of Nueva Singapur announced new vessel-inspection protocols on Monday after contraband seizures reached their highest quarterly total in five years. The authority will now require all incoming vessels to submit detailed manifests forty-eight hours before arrival, with spot checks on twenty percent of container stacks rather than the previous five percent threshold.

The shift comes as shipping lines report increased pressure from enforcement agencies across the Republic's four regions. Customs officials in Costa Mar and Tierra Verde have intercepted seventeen shipments routed through Nueva Singapur in the past three months, according to Port Authority director Miguel Santos, speaking to the Herald on condition of anonymity.

Shipping representatives expressed concern that the new rules could slow throughput during peak season. Container volumes through Nueva Singapur averaged 142,000 TEU per week in May; the Port Authority says the expanded screening will add no more than six hours to average dwell time. The authority is hiring twelve additional inspectors and upgrading its cargo-scanning equipment by September.