Speaking at the opening ceremony, then Minister for Transport Mr Ong Ye Kung suggested four frontiers to focus the minds of players of the maritime industry to do better in a post-pandemic world – resilience, digitalisation, decarbonisation, and talent. 

On resilience, he highlighted Singapore’s continued efforts during this time of the pandemic to ensure crew change can take place in Singapore safely. To further bolster resilience efforts, frontline maritime personnel, including seafarers, have also been prioritised to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

Mr Ong also spoke on the importance of digitalisation for Singapore as a transshipment hub. Digitalisation and technology can be tapped on to optimise shipping and port processes and break into new frontiers.

The Singapore port, as a major transshipment hub in the global supply network, also has a crucial role to play in decarbonisation. Mr Ong touched on various initiatives to reduce emissions and use cleaner energy sources such as LNG fuels and the fully electrical new Tuas Port. MPA is also working towards developing the Maritime Singapore Decarbonisation Blueprint 2050 for the future of our industry. Singapore will also join international decarbonisation efforts by introducing a levy on marine fuel consumption mooted by the International Chamber of Shipping.

On the talent frontier, Mr Ong said that Singapore’s diverse economic activities have put us in a good position where our talent in Singapore has many available choices and options as long as they acquire the necessary skills.