Singapore maintains post as world's top maritime centre

Singapore held the first rank for eight years now.

Singapore retains its spot as the world’s top maritime centre for the eighth consecutive year, according to the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index.

According to a release by the Baltic Exchange on Sunday, Singapore topped the performance of 43 other locations rated, with a score of 97.2. The average score for a location was 58.8 points.

It said that Singapore earned the top post due to the “size of its port, number of internationally-focused shipbrokers, financiers, lawyers, and insurers based there and its supportive government policies.”

"Despite a significant drop in global trade and business disruptions in 2020 due to the pandemic, the relative positions of the world’s leading maritime centres have remained unchanged. London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Dubai were the next four strongest centres, as they were the prior year," it said.

They were followed by Rotterdam, Hamburg, Athens/Piraeus, New York/New Jersey, and Ningbo. 

The factors considered in the independent ranking of locations providing port and professional services to the shipping industry include cargo throughput, number of cranes, number of players in maritime support businesses, and general business environment, among others.

In a separate release, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said the country ranked first based on its “robust port infrastructure, a comprehensive range of maritime services and supportive government policies.”

Chee Hong Sat, senior minister of the Ministry of Transport, expressed gratitude to the maritime companies and unions for the strong partnership with the sector.

“As the world’s busiest container trans-shipment and bunkering hub, the Port of Singapore has done well to support global seaborne trade during this pandemic,” he said in a media release.

“Our international maritime centre remains a vibrant marketplace centred on a strong core of shipping companies and a comprehensive pool of maritime services such as shipbroking, marine insurance, ship financing, and maritime law and arbitration. I thank our maritime companies and unions for their strong partnership in growing Singapore’s maritime sector amidst a very challenging year,” he added.