Piracy remains an unacceptable fact of life for seafarers

SINGAPORE Maritime Week (SMW) is now nearly halfway through and already looks like a successful event, tackling the big issues of resilience, digitalisation and decarbonisation.

However, in his SMW opening speech Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung also referred to the need to ensure the safety and openness of international trade arteries. Those, of course, include the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

With the Ever Given grounding in the Suez Canal still fresh in all our minds, Mr Ong noted that the Maritime Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore will continue to enhance its Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) to ensure safety of navigation, including early detection of collision and grounding risks.