Remarks by Senior Minister of State for Transport Mr Chee Hong Tat at the Maritime Singapore Connect Maritime Digital Challenge Event

1.     A very good afternoon to all of you, I am happy to join you today at the grand finals of the inaugural Maritime Digital Challenge.

Opportunities in Maritime Digitalisation

2.     Singapore’s maritime sector has stayed resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our container port throughput has in fact exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels and our international maritime centre (IMC) has continued to grow from strength to strength. Singapore was recently voted as the world’s best global seaport, and we retained our position as the top international shipping centre for the eighth year.

3.     Digitalisation is one of the key reasons for our resilience and success, despite the pandemic. The maritime digital journey actually did not only start during the pandemic. We started many years ago, in fact, some 40 years ago with PortNet, which was the world’s first nation-wide business-to-business port community system. Since then, new digital systems have brought the port community closer and made work easier. For example, MPA’s digitalPORT@SGTM is a one-stop portal that streamlined 16 regulatory forms into one single application process for MPA, for ICA, and for NEA. In doing so, we reduced the administrative efforts by an estimated 100,000 man-hours per year.

4.     MPA is now working on Phase 2 of digitalPORT@SGTM to interoperate with other port community systems and other commercial platforms. We want to go beyond government systems; we want to be able to integrate with other port systems and also with commercial systems. This will enable just-in-time services, reduce vessel turnaround time, and create a one-stop shopfront for port and marine service providers to offer their services for ships calling at the Port of Singapore.

5.     The pandemic has accelerated digital innovation in the maritime sector. These include consolidation of information on vessel arrivals using robotic process automation, seafarer training using mobile learning apps, as well as remote vessel inspections using virtual reality and augmented reality headsets and drones.

Driving Digitalisation Innovation through the Maritime Digital Challenge

6.     We recognise the importance of bringing different stakeholders to collaborate and innovate together. In 2018, MPA, NUS Enterprise and the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) organised the first innovation workshop under the Maritime Innovation Process, where we reached out to maritime companies to develop challenge statements for the different solver communities.

7.     Initially, the challenge statements were shared with local and overseas start- ups through the PIER71 programme. Subsequently, the network was expanded to include researchers from local research centres and also our Institutes of Higher Learning through the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI). Last year, we started working with the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) to reach out to young talents for more ideas.

8.     This holistic and industry-led model of innovation has generated numerous solutions for practical challenges. It has also identified innovation opportunities for future research, and created a new platform to groom young maritime talent and to build capabilities. It is wonderful to see more than 120 students across diverse disciplines from our local universities and polytechnics participating in this inaugural Maritime Digital Challenge. As I was watching the video earlier, I heard some of the participants talk about their experiences – although many of you might not have come from maritime related disciplines, you have applied what you learnt to solve practical challenges that the maritime industry is facing. In fact, not coming from a maritime background has its advantages because you are able to see solutions from other sectors, disciplines and from fresh perspectives. This is where innovation has the greatest chance to succeed.

7.     Over the past few weeks, participants tackled different challenges, from Eastport Maritime’s use of gamification to develop a platform for onboarding and training; Kanda’s challenge of using virtual reality in maritime operations training; and Torvald Klaveness’ challenge of creating an app for seafarers to input data for sustainable shipping insights. Participants focused on developing solutions that are user-friendly, scalable, and interoperable with the wider digital ecosystem. There were many good ideas and solutions. I am sure it was a very challenging task for our judges to pick the winning entries.

Opportunities for young talents to shape the future of maritime

8.     These exciting challenges are just some of the many examples of the opportunities arising from maritime digitalisation. There will be many more opportunities for our young talents to gain valuable experience in the companies that you work with, and opportunities for you to also contribute fresh ideas and perspectives and how you can shape the future of the maritime industry.

9.     For example, Spinoff Robotics, whose founders are students from SUTD and are one of the finalists in this year’s Smart Port Challenge, has developed a drone that could conduct high-altitude washing and inspection operations. They are attempting a challenge statement by Tata NYK, a dry bulk vessel operator, on more cost-effective and efficient cleaning of cargo holds. If successful, their drones could save thousands of seafarers from having to perform the arduous and time-consuming task of cleaning cargo holds. This technology could also be adapted and applied to many other sectors, both within the maritime industry and beyond. This goes back to an earlier point that I made, that cross-discipline application of knowledge and good ideas is where the greater hope for innovation lies.

10.    With more than 80 per cent of globally-traded goods carried via sea, the maritime industry is poised for future expansion, enabled by digitalisation, innovation and more importantly, sustainability through decarbonisation. These growth opportunities will create many good jobs in the maritime industry. SMF recently organised a virtual career fair with more than 200 job opportunities such as vessel operations, chartering, freight analyst, and these require skills such as data analytics, business development, and operations management. For those of you who are graduating and looking for a job, I would like to encourage you to check out the Maritime Singapore Connect website to find out more.

Opportunities for Mid-Career Individuals

11.    Ladies and gentlemen, there are also job opportunities in the maritime sector for mid-career individuals who bring useful skills and knowledge from other industries. I am happy to announce that Workforce Singapore (WSG) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore are rolling out an enhanced Career Conversion Programme (CCP) for Sea Transport Professionals and Associates. This expanded CCP will benefit up to 300 individuals over two years, building on its predecessor programme which had benefited over 160 individuals. We hope to be able to build on the first phase, and through this effort jointly between MPA and WSG, to be benefit more mid-career individuals and encourage them to join the maritime industry, which will in turn also benefit our companies and help our sector to grow further.

12.    There will be three pathways for the expanded programme. The first is the Place and Train pathway, where the company will place the person, who may not have all the skill sets ready, but will offer training. Next is the Redeployment pathway, where an individual in a company could be deployed from one job role to another. Finally, the new Job Redesign and Reskilling pathway, where existing job roles within companies will be redesigned and enhanced. These 3 pathways will equip mid-career switchers and existing maritime employees who are taking on different roles with new competencies in areas such as automation, data analytics, decarbonisation, and cybersecurity.

13.    One such individual who had made a successful career switch through CCP is Mr Fok Jin Jin, a 39-year-old Senior LNG Bunkering Technician with FueLNG, and this is a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum providing liquefied natural gas (or LNG) bunker. Mr Fok previously held roles in the transportation and petroleum industries before joining the company in 2019. Prior to this, he actually had no knowledge and no experience in handling LNG, but he was willing to learn.

14.    He attended the CCP and went through classroom and on-the-job training to gain in-depth knowledge of shipping operations and LNG Bunkering. He learnt how to load LNG into tank trailers and ISO containers, as well as how to transport the containers to the port to carry out LNG bunkering. He also conducts audit on sub- contractors to ensure safe handling and transportation of LNG and he now trains new staff on LNG handling. With all these increased responsibilities, Mr Fok was recently promoted by the company. Congratulations Mr Fok Jin Jin, and well done!

15.    The enhanced CCP comes at a critical time of transformation for the maritime sector. Besides helping companies develop and access a larger pool of local talent with diverse expertise and experiences, this is also something that will benefit both the companies and our workers – a win-win. So it’s good for industry, companies, and workers. And through these different efforts, we build a future-ready maritime workforce.

Conclusion

16.    So ladies and gentlemen, I would like to conclude my speech by thanking all 35 teams for participating in this Challenge. I also want to thank Eastport, Kanda, and Torvald Klaveness for providing the challenge statements and for participating in the judging process. My heartiest congratulations to the teams that have made it to the Grand Finals and I look forward to hearing your presentations later.

17.    Thank you.