For the seventh year in a row, Singapore has been hailed as the top international shipping centre in the world, according to the 2020 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development (ISCD) Index.
The index takes into account factors such as port throughput and infrastructure; depth and breadth of professional maritime support services; as well as the general business environment, of the world’s largest cities that offer port and shipping business services.
According to the index, Singapore maintained its position due to its advantages of geographical location, shipping industry ecosystem and supportive government policies.
Behind Singapore in the top five are London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Dubai. The members of this year’s top five remained the same as last year’s, but with some movement in rankings.
London, holding advantages such as providing high-end shipping finance, insurance, and legal services, regained second place after dropping to third place in 2018 and 2019. In third place, up by one spot from last year, Shanghai has seen a steady improvement in port facilities and shipping service levels. It is also the largest port in terms of container throughput.
Hong Kong fell to fourth place due to a decrease in cargo throughput and a drop in rankings relative to other centres in areas such as ship brokerage, insurance, and legal services. Dubai, the pre-eminent shipping hub in the Middle East, ranked fifth for the third consecutive year.
Rounding out the top 10 are Rotterdam in sixth, Hamburg in seventh, Athens in eighth, New York-New Jersey in ninth, and Tokyo in tenth place.
