Speech by Minister for Transport Mr Ong Ye Kung, at the 15th Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) Opening Ceremony

Mr Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of MPA,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

1.     It is good to have a physical conference again.

2.     We know Singapore has no natural resources. We have however one geographical endowment, and that is our location along the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. The Straits in turn, straddles archipelagic Southeast Asia which connects East and West, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. 

3.     Indeed, the Straits provides the genesis for Singapore’s 700-year history. Today, it is a critical artery for free trade – it provides passage to one third of global container trade and about one quarter of global oil trade.  

4.     However, this geographical endowment does not promise us endless uncovering of resources to feed us for generations. It is the proverbial fishing rod, that enables us to earn a living with our hard work and our wits. Singapore’s status as a global maritime hub is therefore by no means a given. Along the Straits, there is competition; outside of the Straits, there are alternatives that can potentially bypass us. 

5.     Hence the theme of this year’s Singapore Maritime Week, “New Frontiers, Shifting Paradigms”. The purpose is to help focus our minds to do better, especially in a post-pandemic world where the industry landscape will be reshuffled. I would suggest four frontiers, and I will speak about them today: resilience, digitalisation, decarbonisation, and finally talent.

Resilience

6.     First, resilience. It is a topic that has renewed importance given the various upheavals we went through in the past year. Lest the reminder by COVID-19 is not enough, the Ever Given incident in the Suez Canal last month created further delays in global supply chains. 

7.     The Suez Canal carries around 12% of all global seaborne trade. In comparison, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore carries almost three times as much trade. Any disruption along the Straits would have an even more severe impact. 

8.     To prepare for future disruptions, there have been talks of in-shoring, to reduce the reliance on foreign supplies, focus more on ‘just-in-case’ and less on ‘just-in-time’. I think countries can do this, but probably only at the margins. It is not possible to unwind globalisation and the complex supply networks that have been set in place. For example, Apple relies on a network of manufacturers from almost 50 countries to produce an iPhone, while Pfizer needs over 5,000 suppliers to manufacture its vaccines. 

9.     Ensuring the safety and openness of international trade arteries like the Straits of Malacca and Singapore therefore remains a critical task, and requires the collective effort of all stakeholder countries.

10.    Because of this, the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore will continue to enhance its Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) to ensure safety of navigation, including early detection of collision and grounding risks. 

11.    Singapore is also playing a key and active role in ReCAAP, the first regional government-to-government initiative to counter piracy and sea robberies in Asia. We have hosted the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre since its inception, and we commemorated its 15th anniversary earlier this year. 

12.    When COVID-19 led to port closures, seafarers were stuck on their work vessels. Singapore worked with our industry stakeholders to devise a tight, robust procedure to ensure that crew change can take place in Singapore safely, and we helped avert a humanitarian crisis and kept supply lines open. 

13.    When the Suez Canal was down, a Dutch company led the rescue operation, and Canadian-designed tugboats were deployed by the Suez Canal Authority and a Danish company. Ships from many countries navigated round the Cape of Good Hope instead. 

14.    Even though the Ever Given has been freed, the downstream impact on shipping will be felt for some time. Ports around the world (including Singapore) have stepped up to manage the arrivals of ships that experienced delays and support their needs. It is an unfortunate disruption, but it is also a very clear demonstration that when something like this happens, many countries can harness their resources and resourcefulness to restore supply lines. 

15.    Resilience of supply lines depends in turn on the resilience of our sea crew. Singapore started our Sea-Air Vaccination Exercise (SAVE) for frontline maritime workers in January this year. To date, 30,000 frontline maritime personnel, including seafarers, have received at least their first dose of the vaccine, with 23,000 having received both doses. If you look at frontline maritime workers who are at higher risk, over 95% have been vaccinated.

16.    However, internationally, many seafarers remain unvaccinated. This threatens their well-being, increases the risk of cross-border transmission, and could undermine international shipping operations and global supply chains. 

17.    Hence, last month, the World Health Organization and other UN agencies (including the IMO) called on governments to prioritise seafarers and aircrew in their national COVID-19 vaccination programmes. The IMO is working with international unions and shipping associations to secure vaccines for a network of seaports that can assist in the vaccination of international sea crew. This is an important effort to strengthen maritime resilience, and Singapore will do our best to support this international effort. 

Digitalisation

18.    Let me move on to the second frontier, which is digitalisation. This is bringing about a broad and profound transformation across every aspect of our lives. 

19.    In Singapore, we are pressing ahead to implement digital solutions to improve efficiency and turnaround times for vessels. In 2019, we launched the digital Portal for One-Stop Regulatory Transactions, or digitalPORT@SGTM, as a single platform for all vessel-related transactions. 

20.    We consolidated 16 forms for vessel, immigration and port health clearances, across separate platforms, into one seamless submission. This saves the industry about 100,000 man-hours per year. With consistent data, we can also clear vessels more quickly. 

21.    Today, we will be launching operational trials for the Just-in-Time platform under digitalPORT@SGTM Phase 2, which will enable ships to turn around faster and marine service providers to manage resources better. Internationally, we are championing common standards and interoperability between digital systems of ports and ships. 

22.    But digitalisation is much more than computerising procedures and going paperless. That would just be digitisation, but we are talking about digitalisation, which is also about revamping existing procedures and reimagining our value proposition totally. For example, we can use wireless and portable devices to connect our workforce for them to work seamlessly, cooperating with one another; we can use sensors to troubleshoot equipment; we can use AI to optimize decision making and create new products and services. 

23.    As a global transhipment hub, the movements of vessels and their containers in our port are highly complex. So at the heart of PSA is an AI engine that is constantly trying to optimise the movements of containers coming through our port. 

24.    Digital technology is arguably a more significant technological breakthrough than the steamship, in terms of its impact on globalisation. And we are still at a nascent stage of fully leveraging the potential of digitalisation. These are powerful technologies and solutions, not just replacing old ones, but also seeking new problems to solve and new frontiers to break. 

Decarbonisation

25.    Let me now move on to the third frontier, which is decarbonisation. With the launch of the Singapore Green Plan 2030 as a whole-of-nation effort for climate action, sustainable development and decarbonisation has become Singapore’s national imperative. 

26.    We are making Singapore a city in nature, including by planting a million trees; we are raising our targets for recycling, especially for industry materials; we need to do an energy reset, leveraging more electrical power and transforming our vehicle population to low emission models; and we are beginning to build up our coastal defences against rising sea levels. 

27.    Maritime Singapore must contribute to the national and global sustainability agenda. As a major transhipment hub, we are already contributing significantly to carbon emission reduction, because using a transhipment hub is the most efficient way to run the global supply network. 

28.    Let me illustrate. If ten ports in Europe are sending containers to ten ports in East Asia, you need ten times ten, or a hundred ships making a hundred journeys. If they come through a transhipment hub like Singapore, where cargo to each destination port can be consolidated, you will only need ten plus ten, or twenty ships with twenty journeys, cutting down many trips.

29.    PSA tries to further reduce vessel idle times through efficient operations, for reducing a day of waiting lowers CO2 emissions by about 45 tonnes. The new Tuas Port that we are building will be fully electrified, using electric autonomous guided vehicles, and operate at half the carbon emission intensity of our current ports. 

30.    But to drive decarbonisation we need collective action. A crucial development is the maritime fuel of the future. This is an issue of great interest to the IMO and international shipping community. Zero-carbon fuels like ammonia and hydrogen are possible, but are quite a distance away. In the interim, LNG is recognised as a practical and transitional fuel to reduce carbon and sulphur emissions compared to conventional marine fuels. 

31.    While the industry continues to work on developing future fuels and vessels, some shipping lines are adopting LNG-fuelled ships to make a difference first. To support the shipping industry through this energy transition, Singapore is providing LNG bunkering services. 

32.    For faster adoption of cleaner fuel, we need the right price signals to the industry. Hence, a very meaningful international action plan, which Singapore supports, is to introduce an international, non-discriminatory levy on marine fuel consumption, and channel the proceeds into research and development for cleaner fuels and maritime decarbonisation efforts. 

33.    Domestically, MPA will launch a public consultation exercise to develop the Maritime Singapore Decarbonisation Blueprint 2050 by the end of 2021. The Blueprint will outline Singapore’s long-term strategies for a sustainable Maritime Singapore. We welcome your views, feedback, and suggestions.

34.    In addition, the International Advisory Panel on Maritime Decarbonisation, which was set up by the Singapore Maritime Foundation last year with MPA’s support, will release its report later this week. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the members for their time, effort, suggestions, and wisdom.

35.    One proposal by the Panel is to establish a global maritime decarbonisation centre in Singapore, where a cluster of like-minded stakeholders can coordinate, drive, and catalyse maritime decarbonisation solutions. I think this is a worthwhile, strategically important initiative. MPA will follow up to set up this centre, with the support of industry players who have rallied around this effort. More details will be announced by MPA.

Talent

36.    Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the last frontier, which is talent attraction and development. Singapore, due to our diverse economic activities, is in a good position where many sectors are vying for a very limited pool of talent. It also means that choices and options are available for our young, as long as they have acquired the necessary skills. 

37.    In my few months at the Ministry of Transport, I have noticed that amongst the three sectors that MOT looks after (sea, air, and land), air transport is a very attractive sector, simply because many young people instinctively like travelling and airplanes. 

38.    I had thought that land transport would have less pulling power, but I was mistaken. I have come across so many young people who love trains and buses and said they want to work in the land transport sector in future. 

39.    Actually most of them do not have full knowledge about the professional roles in the sectors. They just love planes, or trains, and are willing to jump in first and figure out later what jobs to take up. 

40.    In this regard, I think the maritime sector can do more to attract the young. The sea is a fascinatingly complex and large ecosystem, bursting with life and diversity, waiting for curious minds to explore.

41.    My suggestion is to be less focused on selling the young specific professions and roles in the sector. Instead, get them to love the sea. I think we have the conditions in Singapore to achieve this. And I believe those who do may one day join the maritime sector. 

Conclusion

42.    I will conclude by addressing the second half of the conference theme. What paradigm shift is needed in order to break frontiers? 

43.    We know the imperatives at hand, be it strengthening maritime resilience, digitalisation or decarbonisation, are all challenges that are global in nature, and require international collaboration. So a collaborative spirit is most needed in this global village of ours to solve our shared problems. 

44.    The role of international organizations like the IMO has grown. Regional institutions such as ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, or APEC can help build an international consensus on our collective responses to these challenges. 

45.    We know the importance of international collaboration, so I don’t quite think it is a paradigm shift. But we need to be committed to collaborating with one another, and be driven by our love for the sea and the idea that the oceans are our most important global commons, which hold the common heritage of mankind and connect rather than separate the peoples of different lands. 

46.    I wish you a fruitful conference. Thank you.