Singapore awards $1.2m to 11 joint industry projects to drive maritime innovation

The industry projects are in the areas of maritime digitalisation and additive manufacturing for ship and marine parts.

“As the world’s busiest transhipment hub, Singapore must embrace technologies to ensure operations remain efficient. We believe that solutions that work in our busy waters are likely to work in other parts of the world. Hence, we proactively partner the industry and provide an environment that is needed to grow an innovative maritime ecosystem,” commented Chee Hong Tat, senior minister of state for transport and foreign affairs.

Among the 11 projects, five will address operational resilience and productivity needs. They are scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2021, with the aim of transforming the way operations are carried out in a post-Covid new normal.

Another six projects will look at using additive manufacturing for Singapore to become a hub for ‘just-in-time’ provision of marine parts. The consortiums behind these projects aim to deepen additive manufacturing capabilities in Singapore and trial the use of at least 26 3D-printed parts onboard Singapore-registered vessels to test the viability of these parts. These projects are expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2022 and bring about greater efficiency and cost savings for the industry.

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MPA had launched joint calls for proposals in these two areas with the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) and National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC) earlier this year and received 40 proposals from the maritime industry.

The 11 selected projects have been co-funded by MPA’s Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund, which aims to support maritime companies to digitalise and trial technologies that can help to develop Singapore as a centre of excellence for maritime R&D and technology solutions.