One of the major problems faced by the maritime industry is the lack of skilled manpower both in ports and onboard vessels.
Even for a maritime superpower like Denmark it is difficult to man Danish-flagged ships, Tuck Yew Lui, Singapore’s Minister of Transport, said this morning in opening remarks at the Danish Maritime Forum taking place in Copehangen, Denmark.
One of the alternatives for the ports to tackle this constraint has been the introduction of automation throughout the port operations from automated cranes, automated guided vehicles and many more.
” Is there place for robots onboard ships?”
Therefore, according to Minister Lui, as the need for skilled workforce onboard grows a question arrises: Is there place for robots onboard ships?
Minister Lui said that this topic should be considered as one of the possibilities for the future development of the maritime industry and dealing with the challenges that lay ahead.
Speaking of the current and future goals for Singapore in this respect, Minister Lui explained that Singapore plans to grow the size of its ports which at the moment have the capacity of 35 million TEUs.
By the end of the decade the plan is to increase this level to about 50 million TEUs.
“However, this would still take place in two locations. Hence, the inconvenience of inter-terminal haulage will continue to exist in our system for a number of years. We believe that beyond the 2020s we will start moving and consolidating all the terminals into one location in the west of the island, building that eventual capacity of 65 million TEUs,” the Minister said.
Singapore is also making serious preparations for LNG bunkering. As explained by Lui, cooperation is underway with the like-minded ports around the world on this matter.
“We believe that it is not fuelling in one place that will allow the switch to LNG as fuel to take place. Instead, it can happen by introducing the service to a series of ports providing high-quality fuel on a reliable basis.”