SINGAPORE: Singapore is offering a US$1 million cash
prize for a global challenge in a bid to find the best new design
for the next generation of container ports.
Announcing this on Wednesday at a maritime forum at Fusionopolis,
Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew said the Singapore Maritime
Institute (SMI) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
(MPA) will be organising the "Next Generation Container Port
Challenge" in April next year.
He said those in the industry would know that the basic design of a
container port has remained largely unchanged for decades - a
simple plot of land with stacks of containers surrounded by cranes
to lift boxes on and off ships.
He added while there have been some improvements in port
technologies, these have been mostly incremental changes.
On the demand side, Mr Lui said, things have changed much more
dramatically with container ships carrying more loads per
trip.
Safety, security and the need to put in place
environmentally-sustainable practices are also putting more demands
on port infrastructure.
He said these are presenting real challenges for land-scarce
Singapore.
Mr Lui said Singapore wants to source ideas from the brightest and
the best from all over the world through the "Next Generation
Container Port Challenge".
"We want them not only to think out of the box, but around and even
ahead of the box!" Mr Lui said.
The winning concept is expected to embody innovation, efficiency,
productivity and sustainability.
More details will be announced closer to the launch of the
challenge.
- CNA/wk