BBC News, 10 Jul 2009, Pauline Mason
From the top of Singapore's Equinox bar you can see the city skyline and ship after ship after ship.
Singapore claims to be the busiest port in the world.
About 130,000 ships arrive there each year.
But these days, the problem is many of those vessels are not putting back out to sea.
The usual stay for a cargo carrier is just ten days. That is enough time to offload one set of cargo and take on another load, re-fuel and re-stock supplies.
But, of the 220 container ships arriving in Singapore this year, - excluding the tugs, yachts and bunkering vessels which are permanent port residents - more than half have stayed longer than that.
Another 44 cargo ships have been in port for more than six months.
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