The Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) has earmarked S$22 million (US$15 million) to fund the creation of two maritime energy and sustainability development centres.
During the 12th Edition of the SMI Forum, themed "Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence: Sparking the Maritime Sector," the event's guest-of-honour, Chee Hong Tat, Singapore's senior minister of state for finance and transport said SMI will be awarding additional funding of S$12 million to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to support the Maritime Energy and Sustainable Development (MESD) Centre of Excellence.
It will also appropriate additional funding of S$10 million over the next five-year period to the Centre of Excellence in Modelling and Simulation for Next Generation Ports (C4NGP).
Phase two funding
The SMI will be awarding an additional S$12 million to NTU over the next five-year period, to support the MESD Centre of Excellence's efforts to deepen research for 14 maritime decarbonisation R&D projects that were developed in Phase One for industry deployment in Phase Two.
It said that the MESD will initiate joint projects on 16 R&D areas which it has identified with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and industry partners. These projects include trials on alternative fuels and energy sources, as well as associated adoption pathways.
Meanwhile, SMI noted that it will also be awarding additional funding of S$10 million over the next five-year period to the C4NGP to translate the Centre's advanced digital twinning technologies for adoption by the local port and the maritime industry.
It added that in its next phase, the C4NGP aims to create and share new knowledge with local and international industry partners via its digital twin software packages.
Other R&D projects to be developed include Tuas Port's digital twin, advanced port operation planning systems, performance analysis of future automation systems, and a digital twin for haulier services in Singapore.
"SMI is pleased to support the Phase Two funding for MESD and C4NGP. The two centres of excellence form the repositories of deep expertise and knowledge in the respective areas of green shipping and next-generation port, and have made significant R&D achievements since their establishment," said Wong Weng Sun, SMI chairman.
"In the next phase, the Centres will focus efforts on translating their rich R&D capabilities for industry adoption. They will continue their role in supporting and building a strong and vibrant research and innovation ecosystem through maritime R&D excellence," he added.
Harnessing AI for Maritime
In addition to supporting the Maritime R&D Centre of Excellence, SMI noted that it will be working on AI research programmes, and maritime use cases and collaborating with AI institutions to implement AI applications in the maritime.
SMI has awarded S$4.78 million to the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (ASTAR) Institute of High-Performance Computing (IHPC) to lead the Maritime AI Research Programme.
It said the funding to launch the first phase of the programme with a focus on maritime data excellence and AI modelling excellence as well as use cases.
To enhance the industry's resilience against cybersecurity risks, SMI noted that it has awarded S$4.77 million to iTrust, Centre for Research in Cyber Security at the Singapore University of Technology and Design to develop a Maritime Testbed of Shipboard Operational Technology (MariOT) system, in collaboration with the American Bureau of Shipping and Singapore Polytechnic's Centre of Excellence in Maritime Safety.
"The MariOT will be the world's first industrial-grade cyber-physical platform equipped with essential shipboard operational technology systems to offer a safe and realistic testing environment for cybersecurity technologies without disrupting actual vessel operations," SMI said.
