Mrs Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Ambassador-at-large Professor Tommy Koh,

Captain Bobby R. Mamahit, Director-General, Directorate General of Sea Transportation, Indonesia,

Captain Mohamad Halim Ahmed, Director, Safety of Navigation Division, Marine Department, Malaysia,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

We are honoured to host this year's meeting and would like to extend a warm welcome to all participants.

Changing Landscape of Shipping

The shipping landscape has changed over the years. Ships are getting bigger and more sophisticated. Mega-alliances and larger ships are exerting pressure not only on port infrastructure but could also pose larger risks to the environment. Growing international regulations on safety and the environment are also posing new challenges for compliance on the part of port state and flag state control. At the same time, usage of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) remains at an all time high, notwithstanding the current industry downturn, and the imperative for safe, efficient and sustainable shipping remains key for one of the world's busiest waterways.

Even as we address current challenges, we need to keep an eye out for emerging issues that would affect the safety and security of ships plying the SOMS. For instance, we are seeing an increasing trend of sea robberies, petty thefts and oil siphoning incidents in this region. The ongoing transboundary haze situation is another area of concern. While vessels are equipped to navigate in restricted visibility, any reduction in visibility will affect safety of navigation. Because of the SOMS' strategic importance, it is critical that the littoral States and stakeholders continue to strengthen regional cooperation to tackle these issues.

Importance of the Co-operative Mechanism

The Co-operative Mechanism on Safety of Navigation and Environmental Protection in SOMS or Co-operative Mechanism, has been an important platform in facilitating collaboration among stakeholders to keep the SOMS safe and sustainable. In particular, the Co-operation Forum has been a key contributor to the continued success of the Co-operative Mechanism.

I join the many speakers today in emphasising that the Forum remains the key platform in bringing together all the littoral States of the SOMS, user States, industry and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue, exchange information and share their valuable perspectives on important issues relating to the SOMS.

In addition, it allows us to engage user States and gives them a stake in ensuring they have a role to also play in making sure the SOMS remains safe for shipping. It also identifies useful projects that enhances the safety of navigation and reduces the risk of environmental pollution.

To remain relevant, the Co-operation Forum needs to able to address the diverse and more complex challenges facing SOMS. We need to invest more effort and build new capabilities leveraging on technology and best practices.

This year, the Co-operation Forum will touch on the new and emerging challenges faced by the maritime sector. These include cyber security and the trend towards a sustainable global maritime transport system. I hope the discussions will advance the objectives of enhancing navigational safety and environmental protection in the SOMS.

Singapore's Commitment to Addressing Navigational Safety and Environmental Protection

On Singapore's part, we remain strongly committed to improve the safety of navigation and marine environmental protection. On navigational safety, we have seen the benefits in inculcating a safety culture among mariners and users of the SOMS. To achieve this, Singapore launched an industry-wide Safety @ Sea campaign last year. This year, MPA formed the National Maritime Safety at Sea Council to spearhead the drive for maritime safety on a national level, and ensure the sustainability of safety efforts.

Together with other existing safety initiatives and support from the industry, we are happy to note that the incident rate in the Port of Singapore is one of the lowest ever, with 0.005 incidents per 1,000 vessel traffic movements last year, compared to 0.008 in 2013.

We are also mindful of the impact of the shipping industry on the environment. MPA has taken active and concrete steps to build a more sustainable shipping sector through the Maritime Singapore Green Initiatives. Under the programme, we pledge to help companies adopt green shipping practices.

We are equally committed to work with our regional counterparts to assess the impact and implement new regulations such as the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention. We will also foster greater cooperation among the port authorities and security enforcement agencies such the police coast guards, navies and ReCAAP to combat sea robberies and petty theft incidents.

The achievements of the Co-operative Mechanism can be a model of cooperation for the rest of the world. But this is only achievable if we continue to work even more closely together to build on this success.

Importance of Stakeholder Contribution and Participation

We have indeed come a long way since the first Co-operation Forum was launched in 2008. We have not only seen an increase in the number of participants, but are also looking at more diverse geographical representation. Today, the 8th Co-operation Forum will see over 150 participants from over 40 countries and organisations, compared to over 50 participants from 28 countries and organisations when the Forum was first launched in 2008. This is a strong indication of the industry's commitment in maintaining safety and achieving sustainability. We would like to pledge our commitment to working with fellow littoral States and all stakeholders to ensure the continued relevance and effectiveness of the Co-operative Mechanism in the longer term.

I hope you will have a fruitful and enjoyable session ahead and thank you for joining us at the 8th CF here in Singapore. Thank you.