While maritime is a key pillar of Singapore’s economy, attracting and retaining of talent in the industry has been one of the focuses of tripartite collaboration. Ms Mary Liew said, “Tripartite partners can do more for the core group of Singaporeans.” She shared on how SMOU has also been supporting the Singapore Core through the Tripartite Maritime Training Award (TMTA) programmes which have recruited and trained about 400 local cadets and close to 100 today are seafaring officers.

To continue building and supporting the Singapore Core, Ms Quah Ley Hoon shared on some of MPA’s new maritime initiatives to attract more talent and businesses to value-add to Singapore’s ecosystem. One of which was the Sail Milestone Achievement Programme (SailMAP) which MPA thanked the unions and the Singapore Navy for their support on. Representatives from MPA shared on the objectives of the SailMAP programme, and how it will incentivise more Singaporeans to join and contribute to the Maritime industry.

Partnership with the Singapore Navy will allow the recognition of skillsets gained from National Service in the Navy, as well as encourage students of maritime studies to continue in their education and career pursuit in the maritime field.

Other suggestions that were brought to the table include the shortening of required sea-time, image of seafaring captains and chief engineers, mental wellness of seafarers and positioning Singapore as an ASEAN Training Centre for seafarers in the region.

The maritime industry is still a vibrant one, abounding in opportunities. Minister Iswaran concluded the session by talking about the potential of new technology in Maritime, learning from practices in the aviation industry, and training to give Singaporeans an edge above the rest.

With the SailMAP being the latest initiative rolled out to support the Singapore maritime core, continued collaboration and conversation amongst tripartite partners will be the key to the competitiveness and future of our industry.