The Singapore Government is dangling a US$1 million carrot to anyone who can come up with the best idea for a next generation container port, in a bid to spur innovation in the maritime sector, reported the Straits Times.

    The Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) and Maritime and Port
Authority of Singapore (MPA) are organising the "Next Generation Container Port (NGCP) Challenge'', Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said at the Singapore Maritime Institute Forum at Fusionopolis yesterday.

    He said that while the basic design of a container port has remained largely unchanged for decades, the way cargo has been moved has changed dramatically.

    Container ships have more than doubled in size and are getting larger still, while safety, security and environmental sustainability are "putting more demands on port infrastructure'', he said.

    "In land scarce Singapore, these present us with a real challenge, but one that we are determined to meet head on. We don't think we should do it alone, and are fully prepared to source ideas from the brightest and the best from all over.''

    The precise terms of the competition will be made known only next year, during Singapore Maritime Week from April 22 to 27, and the competition will be open to all participants around the globe and could include academics, consultants and industrial designers.

    Submissions will be judged by an international panel of representatives from the Singapore Government, the maritime industry and academia. The winner will be announced in 2013. Winners may also receive up to $5 million in research and development grants.

    Designing and operating a container port is complex, and the new idea may well be adopted for a future mega port at Tuas, the feasibility of which is being studied after a recommendation by the high-level Economic Strategies Committee.

    The committee called for Tanjong Pagar to be transformed into a waterfront city after 2027, when port operator PSA International's lease on the land expires.

    However, an MPA spokesman said the challenge is not linked to the relocation of the Singapore port.

    "The NGCP Challenge is intended to elicit ideas on radical new ways of port operations that can be applied in any location, in line with our objective of optimising land space and efficiency,'' he said.

    Lee Loo Hey, associate professor at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the National University of Singapore, said the ideas that emerge from this competition will be very relevant to Singapore.

    He said that some of the main challenges for ports in the future are handling larger ships and raising productivity.

    "For Singapore, which is a transhipment hub handling high volumes of cargo, it is even more important,'' he said.
Separately, MPA and Jurong Port launched a new programme for green port solutions research, and committed a total of $12 million for five years.

    Jurong Port chief executive Matthew Chan said: "We have already completed a study on our carbon footprint. Now, we will develop and implement major green projects with MPA's funding support.''

(source:http://www.cargonewsasia.com/category.aspx?id=7)