The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index has recently ranked Singapore as the top shipping centre in the world. Published by Chinese news agency, Xinhua, and global maritime data provider, the Baltic Exchange, the index has rated Singapore as the top location due to port size, number of internationally-focused shipbrokers, financiers, lawyers and insurers based there and its supportive government policies. In its eighth edition this year, the index ranks the performance of the world’s largest cities which offer port and shipping business services.
Like Singapore, the world’s leading maritime centres remained unchanged where London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai were the next four strongest centres (as they were the previous year).
There were 43 locations ranked with Singapore scoring 97.2 points out of a maximum 100. The average score for a location was 58.8 points. In a Business Times report, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport, Chee Hong Tat, said: “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.
“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.”
Image Source: Baltic Exchange
