The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index, published by Chinese news agency, Xinhua, and global maritime data provider, the Baltic Exchange, has ranked Singapore as the top global shipping centre for the eighth year running.
The index is an independent ranking of the performance of locations around the world that provide port and professional services to the shipping industry, stated the Baltic Exchange on Sunday (11 July).
Singapore has been rated as the top location due to the size of its port, number of internationally-focused shipbrokers, financiers, lawyers and insurers based there and its supportive government policies.
Despite a significant drop in global trade and business disruptions in 2020 due to the pandemic, the relative positions of the world’s leading maritime centres have remained unchanged. London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai were the next four strongest centres, as they were the prior year.
The report finds:
| Ranking | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| 1 | Singapore | Singapore | Singapore | Singapore | Singapore |
| 2 | London | London | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | London |
| 3 | Shanghai | Shanghai | London | London | Hong Kong |
| 4 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Shanghai | Shanghai | Hamburg |
| 5 | Dubai | Dubai | Dubai | Dubai | Shanghai |
| 6 | Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Dubai |
| 7 | Hamburg | Hamburg | Hamburg | Hamburg | New York |
| 8 | Athens/Piraeus | Athens/Piraeus | New York/
New Jersey |
New York/
New Jersey |
Rotterdam |
| 9 | New York/
New Jersey |
New York/
New Jersey |
Houston | Tokyo | Tokyo |
| 10 | Ningbo | Tokyo | Athens/Piraeus | Busan | Athens/Piraeus |
“Our international maritime centre remains a vibrant marketplace centered on a strong core of shipping companies and a comprehensive pool of maritime services such as shipbroking, marine insurance, ship financing and maritime law and arbitration.
Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport, said, “As the world’s busiest container trans-shipment and bunkering hub, the Port of Singapore has done well to support global seaborne trade during this pandemic. “
“I thank our maritime companies and unions for their strong partnership in growing Singapore’s maritime sector amidst a very challenging year.”
Note: Click here to download a copy of the report.
Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 12 July, 2021
The subsidiary of trading firm Vitol supplied 100 mt of 0.5pc fuel oil to a tanker in Istanbul on 4 October.
‘Almost all bunkering calls have been diverted to other ports, and north ports such as Zhoushan. Most bunkers here are for regular container liners only,’ says source.
‘We have been looking at Greece for a long, long time and we have struggled to find the right people to lead this project,’ said Timothy Cosulich, Fratelli Cosulich CEO
Meeting IMO2020 fuel emissions regulations received 15% of vote from industry participants, show data.
Total bunker sales at Panama was 302,330 metric tonnes (mt) in June, compared to sales of 480,464 mt during the similar period in 2019.
China’s demand for bonded bunker fuel in March totalled 500,000 mt, showing an increase due to seasonal demand and effective control of the COVID-19 virus, says JLC.
Between November 2016 and October 2017, Mr Tan falsified at least 20 invoices and submitted these invoices to UOB and OCBC, according to court documents obtained by bunkering publication Manifold Times.
‘CSM Taurus arrived in Singapore during mid-September and is currently undergoing final preparations before starting commercial operations,’ General Manager of CSM tells Manifold Times.
Criminal syndicate’s tampering with MFMs on bunker tankers Southernpec 6 and Southernpec 7 conceptualised by three masterminds and carried out by cargo officers on board, according to joint statement.
Seeks information connected to SGS COQs of Gas Oil and Marine Diesel Oil cargoes loaded on board Vinalines Glory from the Vopak Banyan Terminal in Singapore between January and February 2013.
Additional topics of bunker contamination and OCM services discussed at VPS’ Fuel Management Challenges – The Year of 2021 & Beyond webinar on 23 September; Manifold Times summarises the session.
‘The JMs have failed to discharge their duties by blindly helping the Banks mount a false case against the Defendant,’ wrote defence lawyers representing former IPP Director Dr Goh Jian Hian in court statement.
