Singapore keeps grip on maritime capital crown: report

It maintained its lead despite a weak trade cycle in traditional shopping and offshore oil and gas market.

Singapore maintained its top position at the head of the 15 leading maritime capitals despite a somewhat weak trade cycle in traditional shipping, according to The Leading Maritime Capitals report for 2019.

Although the Lion City’s offshore oil and gas markets has yet to recover, Singapore was able to retain its lead in three of the five pillars of the ranking comprising of shipping, ports and logistics as well as attractiveness and competitiveness. In the two remaining pillars, London was number one in Maritime Finance & Law, whilst Oslo clinched the top spot in Maritime Technology.

On the overall ranking, Hamburg remains in the number two spot, whilst Oslo dropped from third to seventh. Rotterdam and Hong Kong showed the biggest improvement, climbing to third and fourth respectively, with London rounding out the top five, and Shanghai at number six.

“Maritime Singapore’s continuous effort to strengthen its attractiveness as an international maritime centre has been well received by the industry. The strong results on both the objective indicators and expert assessments indicate its relevance as a critical node within the maritime sector regionally and globally,” Shahrin Osman, regional head of Maritime Advisory at DNV GL, said in a statement.

When asked to look five years into the future, experts foresee Singapore retaining its top position, but with stronger competition from Shanghai, and Dubai poised to climb into the top five overall by 2024, the report noted. Hamburg, Rotterdam, London and Oslo are expected to stay strong in Europe.

The Leading Maritime Capitals 2019 report is made in cooperation between Menon Economics and DNV GL.