The 8th Co-operation Forum opened in Singapore on 5 October to discuss challenges faced by the maritime industry including cyber security and the trend towards a sustainable global maritime transport system.
The second day of the two-day forum saw the launch of a hydrographical survey of the straits of Malacca and Singapore previously reported by IHS Maritime. This is a joint venture by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, backed by Japanese finance and technical expertise.
Singapore minister of state Josephine Teo, who officiated at the forum, noted the importance of the survey in “one of the busiest and most important shipping lanes in the world”, through which about one-third of the world’s traded goods pass.
Andrew Tan, chief executive of the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), reviewed Singapore’s recent role in navigation safety. In 2014, the MPA launched an industry-wide maritime safety campaign to foster a culture of safety among seafarers and users of the straits of Malacca and Singapore. In August this year the authority established the National Maritime Safety at Sea Council to promote safety at sea at a national level.
“The incident rate at the port of Singapore is one of the lowest, with 0.005 incidents per 1,000 vessel traffic movements last year, compared with 0.008 in 2013,” said Tan.
The 2015 Co-operation Forum attracted more participants than ever: more than 150 from 40 countries and organisations.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
