18th Singapore Maritime Week opens

Representatives from agencies, organisations and businesses at the opening ceremony of the 18th Singapore Maritime Week. (Photo: mpa.gov.sg)

Singapore (VNA) – The 18th Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) themed “Actions meet Ambition” opened on April 15 at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), it is featured with more than 50 events from April 15 – 19.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat highlighted that Maritime Singapore has continued to grow year-on-year – a mark of the industry’s vote of confidence in Singapore, and the strong tripartite relationship between business, workers, and the government.

Looking forward, Chee said that Singapore aims to be a global hub for innovation, reliable and resilient maritime operations, and maritime talent, to better serve the current and future needs of our stakeholders and allow Singapore to contribute to global development and sustainability goals effectively. 

The SMW is organised around four pillars - decarbonisation, digitalisation, services, and talent development. More than 10,000 maritime professionals from about 40 countries, including delegates from governments, port authorities, and international organisations, as well as industry experts and thought leaders are expected to attend SMW.

During the SMW, a maritime dialogue was held on the topic of Supply Chain Resilience, Digitalisation and Decarbonisation under the moderation of Professor Simon Tay, Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

Speaking at the dialogue, Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), noted the rapid green and digital transition unfolding in the maritime sector, driven by the targets set by IMO Member States in the IMO 2023 greenhouse gases strategy.

Dominguez said that IMO is on track to adopt mid-term measures by late 2025 to cut GHG emissions, to reach net zero targets. Alongside this regulatory work, there is a need to consider issues such as safety, pricing, infrastructural availability to deliver new fuels, lifecycle emissions, supply chain constraints, barriers to adoption and more.

Participants at the dialogue discussed challenges that the maritime industry is facing; efforts and measures to address the challenges and seize new opportunities.

In addition, as part of SMW 2024, the inaugural Expo@SMW trade exhibition, taking place from 16 – 18 April 2024 will showcase maritime solutions by about 50 companies and startups./.