MaritimeONE Scholars and Industry Partners Join Nationwide Effort to Grow a City in Nature through the Plant-A-Tree Programme

October 18, 2025

More than 120 trees planted and over $36,000 raised to enhance Singapore’s urban landscape and reinforce the maritime community’s shared responsibility for the environment

Singapore, 18 October 2025 — The Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) partnered the Garden City Fund—a registered charity and IPC under the National Parks Board (NParks)—for a second year to organise the Plant-A-Tree Programme bringing together nearly 100 past and present MaritimeONE scholars and 17 organisations (see Annex) in a collective effort to give back to the community. The $36,600 raised from the sponsors enabled 122 trees to be planted at the Rail Corridor under Garden City Fund’s Plant-A-Tree Programme. Mr. Baey Yam Keng, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth and Ministry of Transport, graced the event as Guest-of-Honour. The event strengthens the cohesion of the maritime community, bringing together companies and youths to contribute to causes that uplift Singapore.

Planting additional trees in the Rail Corridor improves the air quality, reduces the impact of urbanisation, and safeguards natural habitats and biodiversity, while encouraging recreational use by the public. This initiative is in line with the wider OneMillionTrees movement launched by NParks in April 2020, which aims to plant one million more trees across Singapore over ten years, integrating the urban environment with nature and strengthening the nation’s resilience to climate change. This vision to transform Singapore into a City in Nature is a key pillar of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

“At the Singapore Maritime Foundation, in addition to recognising academic excellence, we also want to instill in our MaritimeONE scholars the culture of giving back to society. The act of planting trees underscores our commitment to caring for the environment—a cause the maritime community resonates strongly with. I thank all our sponsors for supporting this event,” said Mr. Hor Weng Yew, Chairman, Singapore Maritime Foundation.

MOS Baey Yam Keng plants a tree with MaritimeONE scholars.
Nearly 100 MaritimeONE scholars and industry representatives collectively planted 122 trees as part of the Garden City Fund’s Plant-A-Tree Programme.

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About the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF)

Established in 2004, the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) fosters public-and-private sector collaboration, promotes Singapore as an International Maritime Centre (IMC), and develop a talent pipeline and skilled workforce to position Maritime Singapore for continued growth.

For details, visit www.smf.com.sg.

Media Contacts

David Lee
davidlee@sgmf.com.sg
+65 9119 8044

Joshua Ong
joshuaong@sgmf.com.sg
+65 9011 6304

Soh Zheng Xun
sohzhengxun@sgmf.com.sg
+65 8120 2276

Annex A- List of Sponsors

List of Sponsors for the Plant-a-Tree Programme

S/N

Company

1

AET

2

Berge Bulk

3

Bernhard Schulte

4

Lynux Shipping Bulk

5

NYK Shipmanagement

6

Pacific Carriers Limited

7

Pacific International Lines

8

Pertamina Shipping

9

Petredec

10

PSA Singapore

11

Seatrium

12

Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union

13

Singapore Shipping Association

14

Swire Shipping

15

Teekay Marine

16

Tidewater

17

Viridian Maritime

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The 2022 SMF New Year Conversations that took place on 13 January 2022 was graced by Guest-of-Honour Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Transport & Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations. Over 250 industry leaders across the breadth of maritime attended physically and virtually.
Singapore was announced to have secured the overall top spot as an international maritime centre for the fifth consecutive time in the DNV-Menon Leading Maritime Cities 2022 report.
Thank you to our industry partners for your strong support.

Mr. Lars Kastrup

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL LINES

Mr. Lars Kastrup is the Chief Executive Officer of Pacific International Lines (Pte) Ltd (PIL).

Prior to joining PIL, Mr. Kastrup was CEO of NOL/APL, and subsequently assumed the role of Executive Vice President, Strategy and M&A at CMA CGM Group. A veteran in the global shipping industry with over 30 years of experience, Mr Kastrup’s other roles include Executive Vice President of Assets at CMA CGM Group heading up CMA Terminals, CMA Ships, Container Logistics as well as regional carriers such as MacAndrews, OPDR and Mercosul; as well as Vice President at AP Moller-Maersk.
Mr. Kastrup complemented his tertiary education with leadership and management training at Penn State University and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Angeline Teo

MANAGING DIRECTOR & HEAD, GLOBAL TRANSPORTATION & OFFSHORE, OCBC BANK

Ms. Angeline Teo is the Managing Director and Head of Global Transportation and Offshore, Global Corporate Banking at OCBC Bank which focuses on the maritime, aviation, land & port ecosystems.
Ms. Teo has spent over three decades in maritime finance. Prior to OCBC, Ms. Teo was working at ING Bank, ABN Amro and DnB in Singapore focusing on maritime and offshore.
Ms. Teo graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in Business Administration.

Mr. John Martin

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, GARD SINGAPORE

Mr. John Martin began his career in London in 1989 with Richards Hogg Lindley Average Adjusters, and qualified as a Fellow of the UK Association of Average Adjusters in 2000.
At RHL he worked in their offices in Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In 2003 he joined Gard Hong Kong, as a claims handler. Mr. Martin also worked in Gard Japan, and in 2014 he moved to Singapore to set up the Gard Singapore office.
Besides running Gard Singapore, Mr. Martin also heads the P&I and H&M claims units and is the Senior Claims Representative for Gard in Asia.

Mr. Cyril Ducau

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EASTERN PACIFIC SHIPPING

Mr. Cyril Ducau is the Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Pacific Shipping Pte Ltd, a leading shipping company headquartered in Singapore for the past 30 years.

He is also currently the Chairman of Kenon Holdings Ltd and a member of the board of directors of Gard P&I (Bermuda) Ltd. and of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation Limited, which was established by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. He was previously Head of Business Development of Quantum Pacific Advisory Limited in London from 2008 to 2012 and acted as Director and Chairman of Pacific Drilling SA between 2011 and 2018.
Prior to joining Quantum Pacific Advisory Limited, Mr. Ducau was Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley & Co. International Ltd. in London between 2000 and 2008.
Mr. Ducau graduated from ESCP Europe Business School (Paris, Oxford, Berlin) and holds a Master of Science in business administration and a Diplom Kaufmann.