Singapore has secured the global top spot as the leading maritime centre for the ninth consecutive year once in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report.

The report is published jointly by Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, and global maritime data provider, the Baltic Exchange.

The city state scored 94.88 out of a possible 100 points, whilst second on the list was maritime professional services stronghold, London, with 83.04 points. Meanwhile, Shanghai, home to the world’s largest port, takes third place with 82.79 points.

Singapore has earned its longstanding spot at the top of this index due to its wide and established ecosystem of professional global maritime services, good governance, ease of doing business and large and strategically situated port.

Further down the top ten, there was little movement as Hong Kong, Dubai, Rotterdam and Hamburg take fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively.

This year, however, New York/ New Jersey overtook Athens/ Piraeus to take the eighth place on the list, due to its port’s exceptionally strong TEU uptick in 2021, as logistics companies moved goods through the US east coast port to avoid congestion on the US west coast.

Like last year, the Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan comes in tenth. Its place in this list is almost entirely due to it being the third busiest port in the world in terms of cargo handling, following Singapore and Shanghai.


Highlights from the report:

•    Singapore leads the rankings for the ninth year followed by London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai
•    Location still matters, as does ease of doing business and access to professional maritime services
•    New York/ New Jersey moved up one place to number eight, due to an increase of TEUs handled as cargoes were re-routed from US west coast ports
•    Athens/ Piraeus drops one point to ninth place, but remains strong with good throughput figures
•    Top 10 locations remain largely unchanged since 2021 and features four Asian, four European, one Middle East and one United States location
•    The average score amongst the top 10 ports is 76.98 out of 100, with the average across the entire 43 rankings standing at 58.70.

Baltic Exchange Chief Executive Mark Jackson said: “This report serves as a valuable reminder of how intrinsic shipping is to global trade and prosperity. It also illustrates that shipping does not exist in silos. The success of the maritime hubs included in the top ten list has for the most part been borne out of collaboration and synergies across different sectors of the shipping industry. The Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index shows that a successful shipping centre provides everything that the international shipowner might need, and a successful shipping centre is ultimately also a successful global city.”

Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Ms Quah Ley Hoon, said: “We are very honoured that Singapore is ranked top for the ninth consecutive year by the highly regarded Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report. It is a reflection of the strong tripartite partnership with our partners, industry players, and unions in Maritime Singapore.

“During the pandemic, we are also reminded of the global nature of shipping and the need for close collaborations to address global challenges such as crew change. As the maritime sector continues to build up resilience and future-ready capability, we will continue to work with our maritime colleagues around the world to drive transformation, particularly in the areas of decarbonisation, digitalisation, and talent development.” – TradeArabia News Service