Singapore’s maritime mantelpiece needs reinforcement, groaning from all the trophies, accolades and awards lavished towards the Lion Republic, the preeminent shipping hub of the 21st century. Meanwhile, an old Asian rival, Hong Kong, is sliding down the ranks fast.
Singapore remains the world’s leading maritime hub according to multiple global surveys, the latest of which was unveiled today at Singapore Maritime Week. The 2024 Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) report from DNV and Menon Economics saw the Lion City out on top, followed by Rotterdam and London.
The city-state is expected to hold this position for the next five years, the report maintained.
Fourth and fifth place overall went to Shanghai and Oslo. Shanghai has been tipped by the report’s authors to grow in importance across the next half-decade and become the second most prominent maritime city. Dubai, meanwhile, is predicted to become a top five hub in the coming years.
Hong Kong, which ranked fourth in the 2019 edition compiled by DNV and Menon Economics, has now fallen to 12th place.
The ranking model consists of both objective and subjective indicators for the top 50 maritime cities across five pillars. Each pillar is weighted equally (a weight of 20%) in the global top 50 city ranking. The five pillars are: shipping, maritime finance and law, ports and logistics, attractiveness and competitiveness, maritime technology – the latter of which was noteworthy for the South Korean port city of Busan being crowned top.
Dr Shahrin Osman, co-author of the report, said: “Singapore is undoubtedly the world-leading hub at the forefront of the maritime industry. It appears unaffected by the many changes currently sweeping the sector and is expected to maintain its top spot for the next five years through its implementation of a consistent strategy for innovation and its investment into green transformation and digital technologies.”
Singapore was the creator of maritime weeks – going strong since 2006, and since copied around the world. This year’s edition was launched by Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s minister for transport who said today that Singapore aims to be a global hub for innovation, reliable and resilient maritime operations, and maritime talent.
More than 50 shipping-related events are scheduled across the city-state this week.
Interesting perspective!