Out of sight

But this ship popularity claim is one that could easily be an under rather than an over estimate. You only have to look to the bay to see how popular Singapore port is – there is, quite literally, a sea of ships anchored up, waiting for berths. And you only need to spend a little time in Singapore to see that shipping is very much in the blood. Are the two related?

Here’s an example of an extremely accessible maritime industry with ships casually lounging in the bay and container ports that sit cheek by jowl with city residents, instead of being hidden behind barbed wire fences or at offshore installations. In Singapore, these anchored ships and the visible container port keep the industry at the forefront of the minds of everyday Singaporeans.

However, nothing is static and PSA is set to shift its container handling to Singapore’s industrial heartland: by about 2027 container activities will be consolidated in Tuas in the west of the country. The shift to Tuas will improve efficiency and economies of scale, as well as removing inter terminal transfers. It will also free up prime waterfront land for development – perhaps the most pressing benefit for the Singapore Government.

But what will that shift do for the maritime persona of Singapore? Will Singapore see a decline in the number of people choosing a career in ports or shipping? When the container ships get taken out of sight will they also be taken out of mind?

Way back when, shipping used to be visible to the UK population; the River Thames teemed with commercial shipping activity, dockyards bustled with building activity and ships were a familiar sight on the coastline. As the UK’s shipping prowess declined so too did the interest in shipping as a career. The two, it seemed went hand in hand.

While containerships will be sent down the coast, Jurong, Singapore’s multipurpose terminal, is staying put so bulk carriers and general cargo ships at anchor will still be visible to the general public. This will help to retain the maritime focus in Singapore, but it does raise the question of the connection between accessibility and general shipping interest.

For city ports, pressure from increasingly intolerant city-dwellers and an urgent need for more space are pushing ports to move out of the public eye. But while a move out of the public eye fixes those problems, it may well create another, that of a loss in shipping industry interest.