2. Speeches
Speech by MOS Alvin Tan at Offshore Energy Week (OSEA) 2024
19 November 2024
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Mr Sukumar Verma, Managing Director (Maritime, Energy, Industrial), Informa Markets Singapore
Professor Chan Eng Soon, Chief Executive Officer, Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore (TCOMS)
Simon Kuik, President, Association of Singapore Marine and Offshore Energy Industries (ASMI)
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A very good morning to all.
Singapore is honoured to host OSEA for the 25th time running. Sukumar also reminded me that it is not just the 25th but also for 49 years, since 1976. And OSEA since 1976 has grown to become a leading business event for our marine and offshore industry in Asia. 1976 is a long time. You first started as an oil and industry platform for networking. This year, it's our biggest event and edition since the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Sukumar mentioned, we're expecting, I think over 18,000 attendees from over 70 countries. So welcome to all of you who have travelled from near and afar. We have about over 500 exhibiting companies from our marine and offshore supply chain.
For our marine and offshore industry, OSEA 2024 is an excellent platform for us to exchange ideas. Exchanging ideas and pulling together a collective wisdom has enabled our industry to navigate the ever-changing and dynamic waters and tides that have confronted our sector and our industry over the past few decades.
Seizing New Opportunities in the Green Economy
If you zoom down to Singapore's maritime and offshore industry, this sector in Singapore has also made great strides over the past 49 years. We first started with just four domestic marine firms, and now we are a global leader in the marine and offshore industry.
We are now home to some of the world's largest marine and offshore firms, and we have a strong ecosystem of homegrown firms as well. You know of the larger players such as Seatrium and ASL Marine, but we also have promising SMEs like Marco Polo Marine, Mooreast and startups like BeeX.
So the question that we have today that confronts us is how do we continue to grow this industry of which all of you are an integral part of. Allow me to use an analogy that we all know, our fleet of vessels.
Seizing New Opportunities in the Green Economy
First, we need to green our vessels. We are now in the meeting of the tides. Both Singapore and the global community are now focused on creating a more sustainable future. We need to do so, it's not a good to do as I mentioned in Parliament earlier last week, it's a must do because this is an existential threat for Singapore and to many other countries. Not just regionally but also globally.
To that end, Singapore has announced a national target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. And international organisations all over the world are also working towards gradual and I hope quick, faster-paced decarbonisation.
The Paris Agreement inked a broader goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
In line with this, the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, has set an ambition for international shipping to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
These are ambitious goals but we have to continue to be in line with it, to set these targets, and to be committed to hitting these targets.
On our part, our marine and offshore industry has an important part to play by supplying and also by developing green energy. For example, you have floating solar farms, offshore wind, tidal energy and also cross-border carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
And it needn't be a huge step, you can take small steps along this decarbonisation journey.
For example, you can start by either retrofitting or converting existing vessels to help these vessels adopt cleaner fuels or hybrid propulsion systems.
Companies like Marco Polo Marine and Watsilia, for example, have been participating in this space. Marco Polo Marine has retrofitted its vessels with ammonia-powered systems while Watsilia has also been using fuel-efficient propulsion systems.
These are just some good examples of retrofitting and turning the way that you fuel your vessels. Strategic Marine, a company which I visited last year and see time and time again, where I launched and witnessed Southeast Asia's first hybrid crew transfer vessel (CTVs) which they use in offshore wind farms.
These CTVs are powered by parallel hybrid systems, which stores electricity generated by running diesel engines in a battery.
This provides options to power the CTV through diesel engines, electricity, or both, reducing the CTV’s carbon emissions.
Apart from vessels, companies can also harness the expertise in offshore oil and gas for renewable energy projects.
For example, Seatrium has a long pipeline of offshore wind projects and is expected to contribute about 13.88 gigawatts of global offshore wind by the 2030s.
One major project in the pipeline, is a collaboration with Tennet and GE Vernova to construct a HVDC, high voltage direct current, offshore transmission system in the Netherlands. The construction for the first substation has recently begun. It will be installed in the Dutch North Sea in 2028, and it will be connected to the grid in Rotterdam.
These are just some examples that I wanted to suggest and to raise that our businesses can explore and to go into. They are not just plans, but they are plans already in execution. Our track record in oil and gas also provides us a firm foundation upon which we can pivot into new and greener vessels, and green and newer areas of energy. But even as we green our vessels, which is our first point, we have an opportunity to upgrade the technology in our vessels.
Innovating and Improving Continuously
Our research partners, TCOMS, ASTAR and others can help. In fact, you are a key node in this whole ecosystem because you are crucial enablers of innovation. These research partners can help our businesses enhance the existing products or services and processes as many of you venture into what might be uncharted waters.
TCOMS, and SEATRIUM established a Seatrium-TCOMS Ocean Lab last year. The Ocean Lab will focus on advancing design and operational performance of smart ocean systems, especially in offshore renewables such as floating offshore wind systems, electrification and carbon capture and storage.
Seatrium and TCOMS are also making waves in the development, testing and the application of innovative and sustainable solutions. And I hope all of our businesses here will consider working with research partners to participate in these partnerships and propel yourself forward, as you embark on the journey of decarbonisation.
All companies in our marine and offshore industry have the innovation to basically upgrade your tech, to innovate through the creative use of tech. This includes industry leaders like Seatrium, but also smaller and nimble companies and homegrown companies like BeeX, much smaller in size, but also playing their part within the whole ecosystem.
Earlier this year, Seatrium and ASTAR signed an MOU to allow both parties to co-develop new energy solutions. They are working on ammonia bunkering, transportation and storage, as well as using AI solutions to improve operational efficiency, as well as decision making.
BeeX started off as a student research project at the National University of Singapore, student research project, and now they're growing their mark on a global scale. BeeX designs, builds and deploys hovering autonomous underwater vehicles. Many of you know it's HAVVs, which they use to inspect offshore and farms under water structures.
The success of BeeX's flagship HAUV, which is named A.IKANBILIS, has opened its doors internationally. From its trial of Germany's North Sea One offshore wind farm, to BeeX's recent MOU with the French underwater sensor developer, Elwave.
Advanced tech really is the way to go for our traditional manufacturing industries, like offshore energy. You are already taking the front foot and making these waves. And ASTAR's Institute of High Performance Computing is supporting R&D in green manufacturing, green marine, green offshore, and oil and gas engineering.
Building a Strong Supporting Ecosystem
Ladies and gentlemen, I've talked about how we need to green our vessels, how we need to improve the technology in our vessels, but now, for my last point, I want to talk about growing our fleet of vessels. Because you can have green vessels and high-tech vessels, but the secret sauce in Singapore is actually pulling all of these vessels together, supporting one another, and forming an incredible fleet that can push forward together.
And this starts with government support. The government will lead the way and play an important role in supporting and building the capabilities in our industry.
We are committed to a $100 million marine and offshore engineering support package1 for the next five years. What does this package do? Time for me to pitch to all of you to take on what we have offered.
This package will support your workers, your companies, to adopt productivity solutions and build capabilities in new growth areas such as offshore wind and digitalization.
The other part of this ecosystem is our trade associations, like ASMI, which Simon is leading. Our trade associations are important because they bridge this important relationship between government and industry players. And time and time again, government representatives like myself are always with ASMI, taking notes, listening to them and saying, what can we do better? What are we doing better? And how can we bring industry together as a whole? So, trade associations are incredibly important. If you haven't joined ASMI, please join ASMI. Thank you to ASMI for your efforts to transform the industry.
Just last year, to give you a sense of how a trade association like ASMI is working with government, ASMI is working with another government department of ours called Workforce Singapore, WSG, NTUC, which is our unions, and E2I, which is the Employability Institute.
So these are all different parts of the vessels coming together. Unions, trade associations, government, training institutes, skilling institutes, they launched this programme called MOTI, or the Marine and Offshore Transformation Institute.
One of the tracks under MOTI is to groom a pool of talent of marine decarbonization champions. I've met some of them at, I think, the Strategic Marine launch last year, and let me just share with you what these marine decarbonization champions do, and how you can start to train these marine decarbonisation champions in your own organisations.
These marine decarbonisation champions, will lead, will drive decarbonisation projects in your respective companies, and promote the development of low-carbon solutions.
Through WSG’s Job Redesign and Reskilling Career Conversion Programme (JRR CCP), they will be equipped with various skills in decarbonisation strategies, business diversification, emissions, innovation, and sustainability management.
This Career Conversion Programme, has so far helped reskill 50 workers from 28 companies. Not there yet - we can do more, we want to do more, that's why I'm pitching to all of you, please join this, and please work with us to build more of these marine decarbonization champions.
Beyond having these marine decarbonisation champions within your organisation and your companies, international collaborations are also key. That's why all of you are here, because it widens the possibilities for our marine and offshore industry.
First, ASMI, and the Global Wind and Energy Council, GWEC, and Enterprise Singapore, recently signed an MOU to foster collaboration and innovation through joint offshore wind initiatives.
This will include activities to deepen partnerships, such as capacity building, training programmes and workshops, and there will also be events to facilitate policy dialogue and commercial matchmaking. This gives us the opportunity to learn from a global suite of thought leaders that can help facilitate the growth of the industry and facilitate the growth of your companies.
Now, we expect these initiatives to benefit around 100 Singapore enterprises and 150 GWEC members over the next two years.
Conclusion
I know I've spoken a lot, ladies and gentlemen, about how we can grow our marine and offshore industry together.
We talked about how we must build greener vessels, how we must upgrade the tech in our existing vessels, and also to grow the fleet of our vessels to support one another.
Our future is looking bright for our fleet, because of all of you. You are the captains of our fleet. Over the years, you have deftly navigated the waves and currents. You have embraced innovation, adaptability, community and resilience, and shown other sectors, other industries what you are capable of.
I hope in the next few days, you will bring all of this to bear, tap into the different opportunities, develop meaningful partnerships, sign MOUs, agreements, generate innovative ideas, and have a really fruitful conference and discussions ahead.
Thank you very much.
[1] The Marine & Offshore Support Package was earlier announced at the Committee of Supply 2024