This week is Singapore Maritime Week 2016, when the city-state celebrates its role as the major hub for shipping in the region, Singapore has good reason to celebrate: according to mapping, ship search and valuation provider, VesselsValue, Singapore owners control just under 2,000 deep-sea going vessels with a total value of UD35.4bn. This equates to over USD 8,000 invested in shipping per person in Singapore. This makes Singapore the leading nation when it comes to vessel ownership in USD terms per head (see ATTACHED image for table).
The largest owner in Singapore is PIL, with a current fleet and orderbook of 138 vessels worth a total current value of USD 3,394m. The 80-vessel Eastern Pacific Shipping fleet is worth a similar amount at USD 3,128m. Both companies operate a diverse fleet ranging from bulkers to the largest size of containerships on order. However, in terms of capacity, the overall Singapore fleet is evenly split between dry bulk carriers (47% of the total fleet by dwt) and tankers (44%).