"If You're Walking through Hell, Keep Walking" Says Singapore MPA Chairman of Difficult Maritime Markets

Lucien Wong, MPA's Chairman, says the organisation foresees the market's slowdown to "continue for the next few years."

Lucien Wong, Chairman of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) Wednesday commenting on current difficult market conditions in his opening remarks at the Asia Pacific Maritime 2016 exhibition, said "someone reminded me of a quote by Winston Churchill during the dark days of the Second World War when he said 'if you're walking through hell, keep walking.'"

Noting the current poor global economy and the "challenging year" that 2015 had presented for the maritime and offshore industry in the context of weak trade growth, low oil prices, and unbalanced market fundamentals, Wong said "unfortunately we at Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore foresee the slowdown will continue for the next few years."

Highlighting that Asia currently accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world's container throughput handled by the top 30 global container ports, Wong said that, despite the current market environment, the MPA believes "the long term growth prospect for Asia is good, as Asia remains one of the fastest growing regions in the world."

"Singapore remains in a strong position to serve as a gateway to Asia and to benefit from this economic shift," added Wong, noting that investment in the port's infrastructure to accomodate future growth continues in the face of challenging conditions.

Among others, Wong cited examples of current work on the Next-Generation Port at Tuas, which is planned to have a 65 million TEU capacity, as well as efforts to make Singapore a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker-ready port, and funding for up to S$12 million ($8.77 million ) for the construction of 6 LNG-fuelled vessels.

Commenting on the Asia Pacific Maritime 2016 exhibition, Wong said "APM provides an ideal platform for the maritime industry to exchange views and gain deeper insights on how to address the challenges ahead and chart ways to capitalise on the growth industries."

"In spite of tough times, there are still opportunities to pursue and that's one of the reason all of you are here this morning."

Last month, the MPA announced the launch of the world's first National Technical Reference for Bunker Mass Flow Metering (MFM), TR48 : 2015, later noting that upward of 500,000 metric tonnes (mt) of bunkers are already being delivered monthly using the technology.