The third edition of “The Leading Maritime Capitals” report was launched at Sea Asia in Singapore. The biennial report benchmarks the 30 leading maritime city regions around the world in four maritime sectors: shipping, finance and law, technology, ports and logistics, together with an overall assessment of the cities’ attractiveness and competitiveness. Singapore is again rated as the leading maritime capital of the world, followed by Hamburg and Oslo. While the top three cities are the same as in the 2015-report, this does not imply that the power structure within the global maritime industry is unchanged. For instance, the increasing importance of China in the maritime industry is evident by the fact that Shanghai climbs from the fifth, to the fourth most important maritime capital. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is challenged as a maritime hub by other cities in the region.
This year’s report rests on a broad set of almost 50 indicators, combining both objective and subjective measures. More than 250 industry experts from more than 40 countries have participated in the study. As such, the report gives valuable insights into the strongholds of today’s global maritime industry.
Looking five years into the future, experts still predict that Singapore will keep its position as the global leader, while Shanghai is expected to increase its importance and become the second most important maritime city. The race to be the leading city in Europe is still open, with Hamburg, Oslo, Rotterdam and London as the leading contenders in this regional race. In the Middle East, India and Africa region, Dubai is the leading center. The experts predict that Dubai will continue to grow in importance and be the world’s 6th most important maritime center by 2022.
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