The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) will for the first time showcase the offshore marine sector by inviting the public to visit two state-of-the-art Offshore Support Vessels (OSV) which will be moored at Vivocity waterfront promenade from 21 to 23 April 2016 in conjunction with Singapore Maritime Week (SMW).
Visitors will be able to take a tour on board the vessels, and in addition, view displays of equipment, products and services of offshore marine companies in an exhibition onboard. It is anticipated that over 4,000 students, industry members and general public would be attending this three-day event.
Mrs Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport will be gracing the official opening of the event on 22 April.
The aim of the event is to create awareness of the offshore marine sector, a key sector in the Singapore maritime industry. Singapore has more OSV investors than anyone on the globe and the Singapore-flag is the second largest in the world for such vessels. Singapore is also the world’s third largest in terms of OSV ownership.
It is hoped the event will provide opportunities for students to uncover the myriad of career opportunities from the industry practitioners volunteering as Ship Ambassadors during the event.
Mike Meade, SSA council member and Chairman of the SSA Offshore Services Committee, said: “With the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), IMCA (International Marine Contractors Association), and the MaritimeONE partners – ASMI and SMF (Association of Singapore Marine Industries and Singapore Maritime Foundation), the OSV@Vivo outreach programme is targeting the youth of Singapore.
“It will aim to show them the diversity of the vessels, careers and the jobs that can be undertaken in the offshore marine sector. The public may normally associate a career at sea to deck officers and engineers, and life onboard would be like clockwork operating scheduled services on container ships, tankers and bulk carriers and the like. We want to showcase that the offshore marine sector offers more diversity and specialisation – in terms of career offerings and roles, such as subsea, diving, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and survey – that are undertaken in the offshore marine space,” he added.
Esben Poulsson, President of the SSA said: “We are very pleased that for the very first time, the industry practitioners have stepped up to co-organise this offshore marine showcase with the SSA for students and general public to visit. Especially considering the importance the industry places on encouraging the next generation into the maritime industry, by showing off shipping as the state-of-the-art industry we know it is.”
The SSA will be organising a special VIP press launch for the OSV@Vivo Openhouse between 4pm and 6pm on Thursday 21 April, where the press will be given an exclusive tour of two high-technology OSVs.
Source: Singapore Shipping Association