Anyone who has queued at the old HarbourFront Passenger Terminal on a long-weekend Friday knows the drill. Two floors, five ferry operators scattered between them, one snaking immigration line, and the low-grade dread that the boat to Batam would leave without you.
That terminal has been retired. On 22 September 2026, Singapore Cruise Centre officially opened the new Singapore Cruise Centre (HarbourFront) terminal at 5 HarbourFront Avenue, roughly 70 metres from where the old one stood inside HarbourFront Centre. It has been running since 15 July, and in that time it has handled more than 720,000 ferry and cruise passengers.
Start with the tip that will save you the most stress: don’t walk into HarbourFront Centre out of habit, because the ferries no longer leave from there. From HarbourFront MRT, Exit B is the one you want, and the sheltered link runs towards the new waterfront building behind HarbourFront Tower 2, opposite The Reef at King’s Dock.
One Floor, Five Operators
The single most useful change here has nothing to do with software. Every ferry operator now sits on one level in the main concourse, rather than being split across two floors as they were at the old building. Batam Fast Ferry, Horizon Fast Ferry, Majestic Fast Ferry, Sindo Ferry and Indo Falcon Shipping & Travel all check in from the same hall, and about 73 ferry departures leave from here daily.
Waiting areas are around 50% larger than the old ones, which is the difference between finding a seat and perching on your suitcase for 40 minutes.
Kiosk, Bag Drop, Upstairs
The route through departures is simple once you know it. Everything starts on Level 1 at one of the 25 self-service kiosks, 20 fixed and five mobile, where you select your operator, scan your passport and follow the screen. If you’re travelling light, pick “Boarding Pass Only” and head up to the departure hall on Level 2. With one checked bag, pick “Boarding Pass and Bag Tag”, then attach the tag and use one of the six self-service bag drops.
Kiosk check-in covers passengers who bought online and hold an ASEAN or visa-on-arrival country passport, travelling with no checked bag or one. Singapore Cruise Centre says the whole check-in step takes under a minute, and the bag drop about as long. Operator guides add the detail the kiosks don’t: the automated drop wants a correctly tagged bag under 20kg, so bicycles, strollers, surfboards and anything heavier belong at a manual counter.
One catch that still trips people up. An e-ticket bought online doesn’t board you, so you still need to collect the printed boarding pass at the terminal before you go anywhere.
The Border Bit, Explained
Clearance runs on the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority’s Automated Border Clearance System (ABCS), which uses facial biometrics for passport-less clearance. There are 46 automated lanes across the terminal and six pre-immigration counters for ferry passengers, with provision to add two more if the crowds demand it.
Coming home is the part worth knowing about. Checked baggage is now screened before it reaches the carousel, so arriving passengers collect their bags and walk straight out. That separate arrival X-ray queue, the one that always formed at the worst possible moment, is gone.
18,000 Passengers in One Day
The stress test has already happened. On 8 August 2026, the terminal’s six automated self-boarding gates processed 18,000 departing passengers in a single day, which is what a Singapore long weekend looks like when everyone decides Batam is the answer.
Behind that number is CFOS, the Cruise and Ferry Operating System that Singapore Cruise Centre built with travel software company Sqiva across a 24-month development and testing period. It puts ferry and cruise operations on one platform and connects to SITA’s FAST self-service system, the sort of thing airports run on, so your details follow you from check-in to the gate instead of being re-entered at every step. A Maritime Digital Twin trial with the Maritime and Port Authority gives the terminal a live view of vessel movements, so berths and staff can be sorted before the boats arrive.
What Regulars Have Worked Out
The practical intel lives in the operators’ own terminal guides. Horizon Fast Ferry’s points to Lex Luggage on Level 1, units #01-16 to 16A, for short-term storage and baggage transfer, which is the answer if you land back at 9pm with bags and dinner plans in town. Money-changing counters sit on both Levels 1 and 2, and there’s an ATM on Level 1.
Fares are still an operator matter, not a terminal one. Batam routes currently run around S$32 to S$55 one way depending on the operator, destination, cabin class and date, and the deepest discounts come from operator and booking-platform promotions rather than anything the new building offers.
What the Speed Buys You
Here’s the honest read: nothing about this terminal makes a ferry ticket cheaper, and what it changes is the friction cost of a short trip. That’s the part young travellers feel most, because the two-night Batam or Bintan run only works when the door-to-door time stays small.
The destination list is the argument. Batam Centre, Harbour Bay, Sekupang, Tanjung Balai (Karimun), Bengkong (Gold Coast) and Nirup Island all sail from here, some around 45 minutes away. Of those, Nirup Island is the one to book if you want a proper switch-off with the least planning, while Bengkong is the easy sell for a food-and-massage weekend that costs less than two nights anywhere on this island. Cruise passengers get kerbside bag drop, 12 coach bays for shore excursions and a VIP lounge seating up to 70, across the 100-plus cruise calls the terminal handles each year.
The next piece is the one to watch. Singapore Cruise Centre says deeper integration of passenger and baggage systems could eventually support fly-cruise and fly-ferry journeys, so a bag checked at Changi Airport might one day follow you to a ferry pier without being handled twice.
🗓️ Opened: 22 September 2026, full operations since 15 July 2026
⏰ Operating hours: Ferry operations 7am to 11pm, cruise operations 24 hours
📍 Location: 5 HarbourFront Avenue, Singapore 099549, behind HarbourFront Tower 2
🚇 Getting there: HarbourFront MRT Station (NE1/CC29), Exit B
🚗 Parking: 100 car lots, 35 motorcycle lots, 76 bicycle lots, six EV charging lots
⛴️ Destinations: Batam Centre, Bengkong (Gold Coast), Harbour Bay, Nirup Island, Sekupang, Tanjung Balai (Karimun)
🧳 Check-in: 25 self-service kiosks, six self-service bag-drop machines, staffed counters available
🛍️ Inside: More than 20 retail and service tenants planned, including Old Chang Kee, Subway, 7-Eleven and Anvar’s Café
If a weekend in the Riau Islands has been sitting in your notes app since forever, treat this as the nudge and slot it into the next free Saturday on your things to do list. Book the ticket online, take Exit B, use the kiosk and see whether under a minute really is under a minute. Sailing schedules, operator contacts and cruise call listings all live on the Singapore Cruise Centre website, and they are worth a look before you turn up, because the ferry hall opens at 7am and the fast boats fill early on Friday evenings!
Visuals courtesy of Singapore Cruise Centre.
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