Singapore remains world’s top maritime hub

• Singapore tops the list for the ninth year, followed by London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai

• Top 10 locations remain largely unchanged since 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19. Based on regional location, four in the top 10 are Asian, four European, one Middle East and one United States

• With the exception of London and Dubai, Asia occupies three of the top five spots

• Ningbo Zhoushan in China replaced Tokyo in the top 10

For the ninth year running, Singapore has clinched the No.1 spot in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index published by Chinese news agency Xinhua and global maritime data provider, the Baltic Exchange.

The index is an independent ranking of the performance of locations around the world that provide port and professional services to the shipping industry.

Singapore has been rated as the top location due to the size of its port, number of internationally focused shipbrokers, financiers, lawyers and insurers based there and its supportive government policies.

From three sets of categories on which the rankings are based, Singapore scored 94.88 out of a possible 100 points.

Singapore has dominated the annual event since its inception nine years ago, and Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), explained what made it a consistent winner.

READ: Singapore tops international maritime center ranking in 2021

“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,” Quah said.

London remained in 2nd place with 83.04 points, and Shanghai in 3rd with 82.79 points. Rounding out the top five were Hong Kong and Dubai, which kept their standings at 4^th and 5^th places, respectively. They were followed by Rotterdam and Hamburg.

The top 10 rankings saw little change from 2021. The only change in the top 10 was New York/New Jersey moving up to 8th place, dislodging Athens/Piraeus, which landed on 9th. New York/New Jersey was credited for higher container volumes re-routed from congested US West Coast ports in 2021.

Ningbo Zhoushan took 10^th place for the second year running.

The average score among 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 the report is 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 10 list has for the most part been borne out of collaboration and synergies across different sectors of the shipping industry.”

The rankings were based on how the ports scored in the following three categories:

1) Port inputs (20% of weighting)

• Container throughput (TEU)
• Dry bulk cargo throughput (tons)
• Liquid bulk cargo throughput (tons)
• Cranes (no. of)
• Container berths (length of)
• Port draught (meters)

2) Business services inputs (50% of weighting)

• Shipbrokers, managers, liner & bulker companies (no. of)
• Classification society offices (no. of)
• Maritime legal (no. of lawyers & arbitrators)
• Ship finance (no. of banks)
• Hull underwriting premiums ($)

3) General environment inputs (30% of weighting)

• Government transparency
• Extent of e-government and administration
• Customs tariffs
• Logistics performance index