Singapore Boosts Spending on Maritime Training

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam delivered the 2015 Budget Round Up Speech in Parliament on 5 March 2015. By Wendy Laursen 03-12-2015 08:26:56

Singapore’s government has boosted maritime sector spending with the announcement on Wednesday that it has allocated S$65 million ($47 million) to maritime training.

The money will be devoted to the Maritime Cluster Fund for Manpower Development, an existing program run by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

“MPA is committed to building a strong core of local talent in the maritime industry, which offers diverse career opportunities for Singaporeans in both seafaring and shore-based jobs,” said Andrew Tan, chief executive of MPA.

“The enhancement to the MCF-MD program not only lends strong support to the national-level SkillsFuture initiative but also allows us to support more skills-based learning, upgrading, and re-skilling for those who want to switch careers.”

MPA formed two taskforces: the Tripartite Maritime Manpower Taskforce for Seafaring and the Maritime Manpower Taskforce for Shore-based Sectors, in May and November 2014, respectively.

The Tripartite Maritime Manpower Taskforce for Seafaring develops measures to encourage Singaporeans to take up seafaring careers and improve retention of seafaring talent, through training grants and achievement awards. To complement the efforts of the taskforce, MPA will set aside an additional S$6 million ($4.3 million) over the next five years to award up to 20 scholarships each year, double the number awarded in previous years. To date, more than 130 scholarships have been awarded.

The Maritime Manpower Taskforce for Shore-based Sectors will develop strategies to help maritime companies fill positions for critical shore-based jobs. A key area that the taskforce will pursue is the re-skilling of locals for conversion from seagoing to shore-based jobs. The taskforce will also develop a conversion program to equip non-maritime personnel with relevant skill sets so they can pursue a maritime career. The taskforce will first focus on jobs in areas such as port operations, ship operations and ship broking.

Budget funds tax cuts

The funding comes shortly after the government announced other maritime initiatives. In his 2015 budget speech last week, Singapore’s Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, announced the extension of the Maritime Sector Incentive (MSI).

The MSI allows ship operators, maritime lessors, and providers of certain shipping-related support services to enjoy an automatic withholding tax exemption. This will now be extended to cover financing and loans for the purchase or construction of vessels, containers and intermodal equipment.

Port expansion accelerated

The new measures take effect from February 24, and come at a time when the government has also announced plans to accelerate the expansion of Pasir Panjang container port.

Phases 3 and 4 of the expansion are expected to be complete and operational by the end of 2017, two years ahead of the original plan.

Last year, container throughput increased by four percent to 33.9 million teu at the port, and this growth is expected to continue. The expansion will increase capacity at Pasir Panjang by over 40 percent.