Singapore has emerged as the world's top maritime capital in a report launched Wednesday, by Norwegian consulting firm Menon Economics.

The annually report, "Leading Maritime Capitals of the World," described the Southeast Asian city state as a resilient hub, home to the fourth largest fleet in the world (when compared to other cities).

The ranking comes as no surprise to Esben Poulsson, president of the Singapore Shipping Association. Speaking with CNBC Wednesday at the Sea Asia conference, he remarked that "Whenever you're number one, there's only one place to go, and that's not where you want to go."

Poulsson said he feels that Singapore's continued dominance is due in part to its continued innovation and its strong maritime services environment, which includes legal insurance and shipbroking.

The second and third places went to Hamburg and Oslo, while Shanghai came in fourth.

The Menon Economics report cited expert consensus that Singapore would remain the "most important city" come 2022, but it noted that Shanghai would become the second most important maritime hub.

"The fact that Singapore and Shanghai are expected to become the most important centers for the industry tells something about the changing center of gravity in both the world economy and the maritime industry," the report said.