Reflecting on 2015: Celebrating our Success and Looking at What's Next for 2016

2015 has been another fruitful year for the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS). With over 4,739 ships registered and 86.3 million gross tons at the close of the year, the SRS has successfully maintained our ranking amongst the top 5 registries in the world by tonnage.

Quality Shipping

The 3^rd Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) Forum, themed "Quality Shipping", wrapped up 2015 on a high note. Since the launch of the Maritime Singapore Green Initiative in 2011, the Green Ship Programme has reached a new milestone with the addition of over 50 ships under the Singapore Flag. It also saw an increase in the number of Green Pledge signatories to 100. The 3^rd SRS Forum also recognised ships that have contributed to SRS' crossing of the 81^st to the 85^th million tonnage marks.

We would like to thank industry partners for their strong support given to the growth and development of the SRS into a quality flag administration. We hope the SRS Forum will continue to be a useful platform for MPA and its partners to engage and share quality shipping practices.

The good performance of the SRS under the Tokyo MoU and Paris MoU would not have been possible without a quality fleet. We are happy to announce that the Singapore flag is currently ranked 4^th out of 30 White List Flags under the Tokyo MoU PSC Regime and ranked 11^th out of 43 White List Flags under the Paris MoU PSC Regime in 2015. We hope to continue improving our SRS’ performance to ensure that Singapore remains the preferred choice of flag for international ship owners.

Sustainability Efforts

Last year has also seen MPA driving several new sustainability efforts and achieving another significant milestone with our inaugural Sustainability and Integrated Report titled "Towards a Future Ready Maritime Singapore". The report is a huge score as it is the first in the maritime industry and public sector, and has won several awards locally and overseas for its comprehensiveness and quality effort. MPA also organised an inaugural sustainability workshop in June 2015 to raise awareness of “Sustainability and Integrated Reporting”.

Instil Operational Readiness and Responsiveness

Towards the tail end of 2015, there has been a spate of incidences which took place in the Singapore Strait. They served as stark reminders not to take our safety for granted.

To spearhead the drive for maritime safety at the national level, Singapore has established the National Maritime Safety at Sea Council (NMSSC). This is a significant development as it signals our desire to strengthen awareness of and efforts for safety at sea, ensuring the sustainability of our safety efforts and inculcating a safety-first culture.

Safeguard Strategic Maritime Interests and an Influential Voice

Besides safeguarding our maritime interests, it is important that Singapore continues to contribute and exercise its leadership on the international front. Over the course of the year, we have strengthened our engagement with the IMO, reaching out to help in capacity building and training of maritime officials in the developing countries, and playing a more proactive role in the discussions in the IMO as it rolls out new regulations to ensure safety, efficiency and sustainability of global shipping.

We are pleased that our efforts have been recognised, and Singapore has successfully been re-elected to the IMO Council for the 2016-17 biennium, garnering the highest number of votes thus far!

On the regional front, we sustained the momentum of international co-operation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. The 8^th Co-operation Forum organised by MPA held in October 2015 was an effective platform for our partners to exchange ideas in the maintenance of safety of navigation and environmental protection in the Straits.

Challenging Economic Outlook

For the maritime industry, 2015 has been riddled with challenges for the sector plagued by economic uncertainty, excess capacity and slower growth in the world economy. During such depressing times, it is imperative that the MPA remains relevant and responsive to the needs of the industry as we look to provide a conducive environment for maritime business.

Among some of the measures which the MPA has proactively rolled out is the additional 10% concession on port dues for container vessels in Singapore. For more information on the concession, please click here.

Looking forward to 2016

Nonetheless, 2016 remains an exciting year for us as it marks 2 big events: MPA’s 20^th anniversary and the 50^th anniversary of SRS. We have indeed come a long way since Singapore’s independence and we hope this year will be a year of reflection, recalibration and inspiration.

On behalf of the MPA, we would like to thank our partners and stakeholders for their strong support given to the growth and development of the SRS into a quality flag administration. Let us continue to work together to weather through the multi-faceted maritime challenges with resilience and fortitude, with a renewed focus on sustainable and quality shipping, and emerge stronger after the storm.