Press Release

Over 250 Maritime Leaders Joined Guest-of-Honour, Mrs. Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Transport, at the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) New Year Cocktail Reception 2017 at Regent Singapore to Usher in the New Year

Key figures of Singapore’s 2016 Maritime Performance also announced at the SMF New Year Cocktail Reception on 11 January 2017.

Singapore, 11 January 2017 – Over 250 top maritime leaders from the private and the public sectors attended the annual New Year Cocktail Reception hosted by the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) at Regent Singapore this evening.

The event was officiated by Guest-of-Honour, Mrs. Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport, and saw notable luminaries from the public sector including Mr Pang Kin Keong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Mr Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) grace the event. Leaders from the SMF Board and Advisory Panel were also present to usher in the New Year with the maritime community.

The SMF Board comprises prominent senior personalities from the maritime industry, and sets the direction for SMF’s industry promotion initiatives. Since the inception of SMF in 2004, SMF has been working in sync with the public and private sectors of the maritime community to strengthen Singapore’s position as an international maritime centre and nurture talent in the areas of maritime education and careers.

Please refer to Annex A for the full list of SMF Board Members.

In his welcome address, SMF Chairman, Mr. Andreas Sohmen-Pao outlined several milestones in the past year such as the new MSC website which was initiated by the Maritime Singapore Connect (MSC) Office1 to profile and connect students and jobseekers with multiple pathways into the maritime industry. He noted the award of MaritimeONE Scholarship to SMF’s first Computer Science student under the PSA – MaritimeONE Scholarship at the 2016 Awards Ceremony, and that 94 per cent of the 84 MaritimeONE scholars who had completed their 3 years commitment to serve the maritime sector were currently working within the industry.

All of this collaboration holds the key to our future success. Nowadays everyone can build bricks and mortar, but what makes us stronger is the cohesiveness of the maritime community, the exchange of ideas, and the innovation that can come from collaboration.

Mr. Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Chairman of SMF

Announcing Singapore’s 2016 maritime performance through key indicators such as vessel arrival tonnage, bunker sales, container and cargo throughput, he shared that in spite of tough markets, activity levels remained high and that Singapore’s Registry of Ships maintained the fifth largest ownership of world fleet under the nation’s flag2.

With some consolidation now and discipline in ordering of new tonnage, and continued global economic growth, we should see a gradual improvement from the lows of last year.

Mr. Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Chairman of SMF

Speaking on upcoming initiatives in 2017, Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao highlighted Sea Asia 2017, which will be held during Singapore Maritime Week and will be the sixth edition of Asia’s premier conference and exhibition event organised by SMF and Seatrade.

  1. 1The Maritime Singapore Connect (MSC) Office was set up in 2016 and is part of SkillsFuture-related initiatives to profile and promote maritime careers under the Sectoral Tripartite Committee for Transport (Sea).
  2. 2Review of Maritime Transport 2016, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
  • About Singapore Maritime Foundation

    The Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) was established on 27 January 2004 to facilitate dialogue and cooperation among maritime stakeholders from the public and private sectors. As the bridge between the public and private sectors, SMF aims to provide the industry with a clear and representative voice, and spearhead projects to boost its development.

    SMF also organises and participates in a host of maritime events to strengthen the Maritime Singapore brand. To date, SMF has significantly benefitted from strong support from all sectors of the industry which has enabled the organisation to reach out directly to the community for new areas of work to improve the current maritime ecosystem.

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

Media Contacts

  • Singapore Maritime Foundation

    Krystle Huan
    Senior Executive
    (65) 6325 0269