Why Singapore is the place to be for World Maritime Day 2026

International shipping executives are being encouraged to make Singapore their base for a full week of high-level meetings, conferences and networking this September, as a concentrated run of major maritime events brings many of the industry’s most influential decision-makers to the city.

At the centre of the week – just two months away tomorrow – is the inaugural Splash Singapore, taking place at the Fairmont Hotel on Thursday, September 24. The new conference, organised by the team behind Splash and Geneva Dry, will bring together leading shipowners, shipmanagers, charterers, cargo interests and technology executives for a day of fast-moving debate on the commercial forces reshaping global shipping.

Splash Singapore falls within an exceptionally busy maritime calendar. The IMO Research and Development Forum on marine pollution preparedness takes place on September 21 and 22, followed by the 25th anniversary Marine Money Week Asia at the St Regis on September 22 and 23.

SpillAsia 2026 runs at Suntec Singapore from September 23 to 25, while Submarine Networks World and the co-located Subsea Security World take place at Sands Expo and Convention Centre on September 23 and 24. The latter expects more than 1,000 attendees from the global subsea communications and infrastructure sectors.

September 24 is also World Maritime Day. The International Maritime Organization’s 2026 theme, “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”, provides a timely backdrop for discussions at Splash Singapore on regulation, decarbonisation, technology, geopolitics and shipping’s changing commercial environment.

The week concludes on Friday, September 25 with the Singapore Shipping Association’s 41st Anniversary Gala Dinner at Marina Bay Sands. More than 2,600 members and guests are expected to attend one of the largest annual gatherings in Maritime Singapore.

There is also a cultural bonus: Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Friday, 25 September, with Singapore’s lantern displays, mooncakes and evening celebrations providing an excellent backdrop for client entertainment and weekend hospitality.

Grant Rowles, co-founder of Splash, said the combination creates a compelling reason for overseas executives to spend the entire week in Singapore.

“This is not about flying halfway around the world for a single conference,” Rowles said. “It is an opportunity to compress months of meetings, intelligence gathering and relationship-building into four or five highly productive days. You have ship finance leaders at Marine Money, owners, managers and charterers at Splash Singapore, specialist communities gathering around environmental response and subsea infrastructure, and then the wider Singapore maritime community coming together at the SSA dinner.

“For an international shipping executive, the value is in that extraordinary concentration of people. One journey can deliver conference intelligence, client meetings, new business conversations and the chance to reconnect with the people shaping maritime Asia. Come for Splash Singapore, but make the whole week count.”

Come for Splash Singapore, but make the whole week count

Splash Singapore’s programme is designed to favour direct discussion over presentations, with panels addressing the big issues facing shipping over the next 12 months, including trade flows, freight markets, geopolitics, regulation, fuels and emerging technologies. The event builds on eight editions of the Maritime CEO Forum Singapore and the organisers’ successful Geneva Dry conference.

“In the past, I’ve found the calibre of attendees at Splash events very high,” commented Christoph Toepfer, CEO of Borealis Maritime and founder of Borealis Tankers. He will be talking on the tankers panel as is Nitin Mathur, managing director for commercial shipping at Al Seer Marine, who told Splash: “What would make the event particularly valuable is the opportunity for open and honest discussions on market developments, emerging opportunities, technology adoption and the strategic challenges facing shipowners.”

Meanwhile, Bjorn Hojgaard, the head of Anglo-Eastern, the world’s largest shipmanager, who will speak on the opening Big Issues session, said: “For me, a successful event is one where participants leave with a better understanding of the real challenges facing our industry, a few assumptions that have been tested, and perhaps one or two ideas that will genuinely change how they lead their organisations.”

“Events like Splash Singapore provide a useful forum to test assumptions, challenge conventional wisdom and learn from peers,” concurred fellow Dane, Martin Fruergaard, the CEO of Pacific Basin Shipping, one of the world’s largest dry bulk operators.

A successful conference, he added, is one where delegates leave with a clearer picture of the industry’s direction and where its greatest risks and opportunities will emerge.

“And I’m sure we will get a few new good ideas from the other conference participants that we will do our best to copy,” Fruergaard said.

For Arthur English, the CEO of Norwegian owner, said he hopes the discussion at Splash Singapore will move beyond identifying risks and ask how the industry can allocate, price and manage them more transparently.

“There is nowhere better to try that than in Singapore with its great blend of owners and charterers,” said English, who will be speaking on the dry bulk panel alongside Fruergaard.

Companies already signed up to attend include Aderco, AET, Alfa Laval, Al Seer Marine, Ambica Logistics, Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, Anline Shipping, AXSMarine, Baltic Exchange, Borealis Maritime, BPG Shipping, BW Group, Cetus Maritime, Complexio, Dualog, Erasmus Shipinvest Group, Fednav, G2 Ocean, GlobalOre, Global Risk Management, Hafnia, Heidelberg Materials Trading, Inmarsat, Inter-Asia Marine Transport, Intercargo, ISEACO, Klaveness Digital, Kpler, Liberian Registry, Lloyd’s Register, M3 Marine, Mandarin Shipping, Manta Marine Technologies, Marcura, Merchant Prospect, Mitsui OSK Lines, Norden, Nura International Shipping, Nura Shipco Management, OS Maritime Consultants, Pacific Basin Shipping, Paratus, Performance Shipping, Petro Inspect Asia, RightShip, Rio Tinto, Seanergy Maritime Holdings, Sedna, Singapore Maritime Foundation, SGX Commodities, ShipMoney, South32, Splash Maritime Group, Stamford Ship Management, Sturrock Grindrod Maritime, Swire Shipping, Syroco, The Captain’s Table, TMV, Tribini Capital, UNISEA, United Maritime Corporation, Vale, Viasat, Western Bulk, Wilhelmsen Group, Wirana Shipping Corporation, and ZeroNorth.

source : splash247