Considering a Move to Singapore?

Moving to Singapore from the UK

Abels Moving Services has provided discreet export packing and shipping for discerning families and professionals relocating to Singapore for over 50 years. Whether you’re shipping by sea or by air, we manage every stage of your move.

Singapore: Islands and Regions

Singapore consists of one main island, off the southern tip of Malaysia, plus 63 smaller islands surrounding it. The country splits into five regions: Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, Northeast, and Central Singapore.

Official government figures put Singapore’s population at just over 6.1 million as of mid-2025, spread across roughly 730 square kilometres (around 280 square miles). That makes it one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

Shopping, Sights and Culture

Singapore has several distinct shopping districts worth knowing before you arrive, including Orchard Road, Marina Bay, Bugis Street, Chinatown, Geylang Serai, Kampong Gelam, Little India, and North Bridge Road.

For days out once you’ve settled in, Sentosa Island offers a long sheltered beach, Fort Siloso, two golf courses, and Resorts World Sentosa, home to Universal Studios Singapore. Also worth a visit: the ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and the Waterfront Promenade.

Singapore’s food scene draws on Chinese, Tamil, Indian and Malay traditions, and the country has invested heavily in its arts and culture over the past few decades. The Esplanade, a major performing arts centre, opened in 2002, and the Singapore Biennale showcases contemporary art from around the world each year. Singapore has also become known for postmodern architecture, home to some of the tallest buildings in the world.

Planning Your Move To Singapore

Talk to a specialist international removal company before you move to Singapore. The process has its own pitfalls, and a domestic mover won’t be familiar with them.

Call our head office on +44 1842 816600 or email shipping@abels.co.uk, and one of our advisors will be in touch shortly to help.

When you get in touch, we’ll give you the resources to make a formal enquiry, along with a clear overview of the regulations involved and how we approach a thorough, premium, end-to-end moving service. Please have your volume, access, packing requirements and shipping method ready to share, so we can tailor our advice to your move.

Once you book with Abels, you’ll meet your Customer Liaison Move Coordinator, who works alongside your Customer Service Manager to manage the booking, organisation and day-to-day details of your move to Singapore.

Export Packing

Export packing is essential for your belongings when you move to Singapore. It protects your items in transit, using either a 6-ply paper blanket with a wax inner and water-resistant outer, or a tough bubble blanket with a soft cloth inner and robust outer that keeps corners protected. Certain items (polished furniture, antiques, delicate legs, mirrored or glass-fronted units) need an extra layer of card, cartoning, or wrap for additional protection.

A domestic move by road needs less protection than a journey of thousands of miles in a 20ft or 40ft container. Your items get handled multiple times on that journey: wrapped, loaded, driven to port, lifted on and off the stack, loaded onto the vessel, and the same in reverse at the other end. Robust export packing matters throughout.

We use the highest quality export materials throughout, designed to withstand a long export journey rather than a short domestic one. Containers are stacked up to two metres high, so cartons at the bottom need to hold their shape and protect their contents for the whole journey.

Fine Art & Specialist Packing Services

Fine art needs particular care, and shipments to Singapore involving valuable or delicate pieces (paintings, grandfather clocks, barometers, chandeliers) call for enhanced export packing and careful handling throughout. In many cases, we build bespoke cases specifically for the item. Find out more about moving antiques, fine art and valuables.

Our team trains specifically to handle specialist goods abroad, with the care and precision these items need. Explore our moving advice for further reassurance ahead of your move.

Airfreight

Singapore’s main island has one international airport: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). Changi handled a record 69.98 million passengers in 2025, with current capacity around 90 million a year. Around 100 airlines operate more than 7,300 weekly flights from Changi, connecting Singapore to over 170 cities in more than 50 countries, and the airport handles over 2 million tonnes of cargo annually. Construction is underway on Terminal 5, expected to lift capacity to 140 million passengers a year once complete in the mid-2030s.

Sea transit typically takes 6 to 9 weeks door to door, so consider airfreight for anything you need sooner. Security restrictions mean airfreighted goods need professional packing rather than owner-packed cartons. We load them into heat-treated modules of various sizes, with waterproof covering for extra protection. Allow around 2 weeks door to door for airfreight, to account for UK and Singaporean security and customs checks before delivery.

See more on airfreight shipments.

Customs Information

Import and export rules govern personal items and household goods entering Singapore. Your Abels Move Manager will give you tailored guidance through this part of the process.

You’ll need specific documentation for customs clearance. The exact requirements depend on your personal circumstances, and our team will talk you through these ahead of your move. Explore the FIDI Customs Guide for Singapore for further background before your move consultation with the Abels team.

Shipping Services

We ship larger volumes and full house moves in a 20ft or 40ft container. Where access allows, we load the container outside your residence, so you can see our team’s care and skill first-hand. We seal the container with our uniquely numbered bolt seals. Where access doesn’t suit a container of this size, we load goods at our warehouse (you’re welcome to attend) or use a shuttle truck between your home and the container.

Some shipping lines offer low-cost freight at the expense of container quality and transit time. Abels sources containers through an organisation that secures A1-class containers on our behalf. These arrive without fractures, dry, clean, odour-free, and with a reliably consistent transit time. An odour in the container will transfer to your goods, and any fractures risk water damage.

Smaller volumes travel as LCL (less than container load). We take these to our warehouse and load them into heat-treated wooden crates for shipping.

Transit from port to port typically takes 21 to 38 days by sea, with vessels departing the UK weekly to the Port of Singapore. Door to door, allow around 6 to 9 weeks, depending on weather, strikes, re-routing, vessel availability and customs inspections.

Read more about shipping options when moving abroad.

Destination Services In Singapore

We choose our destination partners for their accreditations. Most hold the FIDI-FAIM quality award, so the standard you experience with Abels continues right through customs clearance and delivery in Singapore.

We notify our destination partner as soon as your container departs the UK. They’ll contact you as delivery approaches and manage customs clearance on your behalf. Once cleared, they’ll arrange your delivery date. This normally includes delivery, unpacking, set-up of standard furniture (excluding flat-pack items unless agreed), removal of packaging waste, and return of the container to the wharf. Talk to your Abels Customer Service Manager or Customer Liaison if you’d like additional services such as a put-away service, cleaning, or settling-in support.

Our destination agents bring local knowledge of import documents, customs clearance and delivery. This keeps your arrival in Singapore as smooth as possible.

Wherever your move takes you, we’d like to be the removal company you think of for this move, and the next one. If you’re moving to Singapore, or anywhere else in the world, get in touch for a removal quotation.