The Sea Asia Youth Tour, organised by the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) gave young business, maritime and engineering students from Institutes of Higher Learning the opportunity for direct insights on the maritime industry.
The students, majority of whom are pursuing a maritime-related education, were able to witness the magnitude of the exhibition and interact with industry professionals during the guided tour in the Sea Asia exhibition.
As part of its ongoing efforts to promote maritime career opportunities to youth and to nurture youth talent for the industry, SMF spearheads numerous youth outreach activities, including the MaritimeONE scholarship programme, collaborations with schools to initiate promotional projects for youth to heighten the general awareness of maritime careers and maritime industry among their peers amongst others.
This year, five Institutes of Higher Learning across Singapore participated in this guided tour that was specially organised for youth to better understand the maritime industry. Students visited various companies' stands and mingled with industry veterans and maritime professionals which shared insights about their respective companies' business and their maritime professions. Participating companies involved American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), EMS Energy Solutions Pte Ltd, GAC Capital (Singapore) Pte Ltd, General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA), IMC Industrial Pte Ltd, Jurong Port Pte Ltd, Keppel Offshore and Marine, Lloyd's Register, London Offshore Consultants Pte Ltd, PSA Corporation Ltd, Sembcorp Marine Ltd, Singapore Telecommunications Limited and Wartsila Singapore Pte Ltd.
Mr David Chin, Executive Director of SMF said: "The Sea Asia Youth Tour is a great way for us to expose our youth to the dynamism and magnitude of the Singapore maritime industry and highlight its' connection to its' global maritime partners. We are grateful to our maritime partners for partnering us in this youth outreach initiative. We hope that the tour would ignite their passion for the industry and pave the way for the next generation of potential maritime leaders in Singapore."
Sea Asia, which articulates the voice of the Asian maritime communities, has captured the imagination of the global shipping community. It was officially opened on Tuesday 9 April by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Sea Asia 2013 occupies almost 17,000 sqm of gross space at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in an exhibition of 385 maritime businesses from 36 countries. There are country pavilions from China, Holland, Japan, Korea, Norway, Panama, Qatar, Singapore and the UK.