The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on Friday (5 March) said in its 2021 COS Factsheet that it has set a target to bring in SGD 20 billion (USD 14.9 billion) in total business spending commitments from maritime companies from 2020 to 2024.
Maritime Singapore is home to a diverse range of maritime businesses, with more than 5,000 maritime establishments, it said. Beyond our position as a global hub port, Singapore continues to be recognised as a leading international maritime centre (IMC) by international benchmarking studies.
Today, Singapore has one of the highest concentrations of international shipping groups globally. More than 160 international shipping groups from all over the world have set up here and, together, they are the cluster’s core drivers.
The committed total business spending for last year was SGD 4.9 billion. These groups cover diverse sectors from containers, dry bulk, tankers to offshore.
MPA also added an update to the Tuas Port project which will be developed in 4 phases. When fully operational in the early 2040s, Tuas Port will be the world’s largest fully automated container terminal with a container handling capacity of up to 65 million TEUs.
The reclamation of Tuas Port Phase 1 (TTP1) commenced in Feb 2015 and is scheduled to be completed by end-2021.
The Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund was set up in 2003 to develop Singapore as a centre of excellence for maritime R&D and technology solutions.
To strengthen MPA’s support for the maritime industry and local maritime tech SMEs, the MINT Fund will be enhanced in the following areas:
To drive the maritime sector’s next phase of growth, MPA has also taken the lead to build a vibrant innovation ecosystem to drive competitiveness and new growth areas by creating an enabling environment for innovation, deepening maritime R&D capabilities and growing maritime technology enterprises to develop innovative solutions.
Some of MPA’s past initiatives include innovation platforms such as the PIER71 (Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined @ BLOCK71) and Smart Port Challenge (SPC) initiative.
MPA aims to more than triple the number of maritime tech start-ups (who receive funding and support from MPA’s programmes e.g. PIER71), from 30 to 100 by 2025.
The Maritime Leadership Programme (MLP) is MPA’s latest programme that aims to develop the leadership capabilities of local maritime talent, by providing them with fresh perspectives on maritime and global issues through experts, peer-to-peer learning as well as opportunities to cultivate business networks in Singapore and beyond.
MLP is designed as a 10-day executive leadership programme conducted over three months. Participants can expect to attend seminar-based lectures, experiential learning (i.e. site visits to maritime institutions and organisations, physical and/or virtual) as well as networking opportunities with global maritime leaders.
MPA expects up to 30 participants over the first two programme runs.
Additional details on the MPA’s initiatives published in its COS 2021 Factsheet are available here.
Related: Singapore: MPA and NUS. Enterprise launch fourth edition of Smart Port Challenge
Related: NTU Ecolabs in initiative to develop alternative bunker fuels, sustainable shipping tech
Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 8 March, 2021
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