Singapore has retained the top spot in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index this year with its prowess in providing ship management and broking services.
The index, a joint project between the Baltic Exchange and Chinese state-owned Xinhua news agency, has ranked Singapore as the world’s top maritime city every year since it was launched in 2014.
“Singapore commands a strategic position as a maritime hub in the regional and global arena,” head of Baltic Exchange Asia Lu Su Ling said.
Singapore’s senior minister of state for transport Lam Pin Min said: “This would not have been possible without the strong support from the maritime establishments, industry partners and unions.”
“We look forward to an even closer working relationship to bring the Singapore maritime industry to even greater heights.”
The evaluation results are generally stable compared with last year, with those ranked as the world’s top right maritime cities holding their spots.
From the second spot, they are Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Dubai, Rotterdam, Hamburg and New York-New Jersey.
Houston, supported by better maritime legal services and financial services, joined the top 10 chart for the first time by taking the ninth spot. Athens was ranked tenth.
“Singapore shows strength in ship management and ship brokerage services, which commensurate with its status as the shipping hub of the Asia-Pacific region,” according to the evaluation report.
“London has an absolute global dominance in shipbroking and maritime legal services.”
“On the other hand, there is still some room for improvement in maritime legal, shipping finance and shipping brokerage services for Shanghai and Hong Kong.”
The index evaluates maritime cities globally based on their port throughput and facilities, as well as depth and breadth of professional maritime support services.
