New skills framework launched for Singapore's maritime industry

A new skills guide has been launched yesterday for Singapore’s maritime industry, as reported in The Straits Times.

Apart from charting the career progress of workers, the structured guide offers a list of skills required for 48 different jobs in the sea transport sector. Found on the SkillsFuture website, the framework also lays out industry trends, so employees can upgrade their skills and prepare for their desired jobs. Information on relevant training programmes will also be covered in the guide. 

Speaking at the Singapore International Maritime Awards at Shangri-La Hotel yesterday, senior minister of state for transport Josephine Teo commented that growing a more skillful workforce was one of the government's three priorities for developing the sector. The other two areas are port development and building a vibrant business network.

She said: “We will need a workforce that is comfortable with automation and digitalisation. To succeed, the industry also needs our people to have a global orientation.”

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Additionally, Teo also noted how plans for the Tuas Port are progressing as scheduled. It will have the capacity to handle up to 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo a year, more than double what Singapore's port handled last year.

"For the port to remain competitive, we know that scale alone will not be enough," she said.

The new port will have an "unprecedented" degree of automation, and processes will be optimised so that customers can save time and money, she added.

Currently, the industry accounts for 7% of Singapore's gross domestic product and employs more than 170,000 people.

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