More than 200 youth attended the inaugural Marine and Offshore Youth Forum on 11 October 2022 at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.
The forum was organised by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) in partnership with the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI), the Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineers Singapore, and NTUC’s Electronics, Marine and Engineering (EME) Cluster.
The partners held the initiative to attract youth to join the growing marine and offshore sector.
The forum targeted final-year students aged 18 to 30 from ITE College Central, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore Maritime Foundation.
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Desmond Tan graced the forum.
He also attended a fireside chat with association and industry leaders during the forum to give the youth participants a better understanding of their roles in shaping the marine and offshore engineering industry in Singapore.
Mr Tan said the marine and offshore engineering sector is a growing industry today as Singapore works towards building a more sustainable future.
He said that offshore investments this year are expected to increase 7 per cent year-on-year from US$145 billion to $155 billion.
He added that offshore wind is where Singapore’s marine and offshore engineering sector has moved. Mr Tan said that offshore wind is expected to grow beyond US$176 billion by 2023.
Another area of energy source the marine and offshore sector has moved to is liquefied natural gas (LNG). Mr Tan said demand for LNG could rise 5 per cent this year to about 400 million tonnes.
With the growth potential of the marine and offshore engineering sector, Mr Tan said that human capital is key.
The Marine and Offshore Engineering Industry Transformation Map is expected to create 1,500 jobs by 2025 and contribute $5.8 billion to Singapore’s GDP.
Mr Tan said the Keppel Employees Union, Keppel FELS Employees Union, ST Engineering Staff Union, Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees' Union, NTUC’s EME Cluster, and the NTUC Industry Training and Transformation team had worked closely with sector agencies and ASMI on the sector Operations and Technology Roadmap.
The roadmap aims to identify and develop future jobs, such as those dealing with renewables, solar farms, wind farms and equipment electrification.
Mr Tan said: “The younger workforce will find these jobs both stimulating and exciting.
“Stimulating because these jobs will require deep digital, technological and engineering skills. Exciting because many of these are emerging and new. The jobs are pivoting to the offshore renewable sector, the green sector is something that will enable them to be part of the workforce to drive and create a more sustainable future.”
e2i organised the youth forum in conjunction with its annual Marine Week, which runs from 10 to 14 October 2022.
This year’s edition features a career fair, learning journeys, workshops, exhibitions and webinars.
Fifteen companies will also offer 400 vacancies in 170 job roles, ranging from engineers and business development executives to drafters.
The Marine Week this year also includes the first tradeshow, where participants can view a showcase of services and technology adoptions in the sector.
For more information on the Marine Week, visit e2i.com.sg/events/marine-week-2022/.
