SINGAPORE - Digitalising the shipping industry can enhance global trade, but it will require stakeholders around the world to cooperate, said Senior Minister of State for Transport and Foreign Affairs Chee Hong Tat on Thursday .
The global network involves nine ports - MPA, Abu Dhabi Ports, Port of Antwerp, Port Klang Authority, Port of Kobe, Port of Long Beach, Port of Montreal, Port of Rotterdam and Port of Seattle. Instead of worrying about technology displacing jobs and replacing workers, Mr Chee said it will more likely"augment human workers and enable the maritime industry to create better and higher-value jobs".
"Moving forward, the IMO will continue to work on harmonisation and standardisation of electronic messages, so that data exchange between ships and ports around the world can be more seamless," said Mr Chee, adding that discussions on autonomous vessels and e-navigation are on-going. Singapore is currently part of the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships Port Network looking at how autonomous vessels can communicate with ports, and the DigitalOCEANS effort to set common data standards and exchange data with other ports to make port clearances more efficient, said Mr Chee.
IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim said that digitalisation is key to the post-Covid-19 recovery of the global economy to take shipping into a new era.