MSC Maritime Case Summit Award Winners Announced

The Singapore Maritime Foundation today announced the champions of the 3rd edition of the Maritime Singapore Connect (MSC) Maritime Case  Summit. The Grand Finals and Prize Presentation, graced by Senior Minister of State  for Transport Mr. Chee Hong Tat, was held in conjunction with the Talent@SMW track of the Singapore Maritime Week. 

As one of the world’s leading maritime cities, the annual case competition connects  tertiary students with the intersection of business and sustainability through real-world  challenge statements from leading multinationals. 

From an initial 172 students across 43 registered teams, the final 12 teams hailing  from Singapore’s universities and polytechnics come from diverse fields such as  maritime studies, business, accounting, finance, economics, logistics/supply chain,  engineering and more; indicating a recognition among the youth that complex  challenges require an interdisciplinary response.  

The following are the winners of the MSC Maritime Case Summit 2022:

BHP 

Students will act as “consultants” to  BHP to identify and evaluate the likely  “winners” in safety and  decarbonisation technologies that will  rapidly gain momentum and adoption  in the 2030's onwards, as well as the impact of future decarbonisation  technology on vessel safety.

Grand Champion 

Team: Mixed Greens 

Institution: Singapore  Management University 

1st Runner-up 

Team: Peaky Seeds 

Institution: Nanyang  

Technological University

2nd Runner-up 

Team: LINC 

Institution: Singapore  Management University 

Merit Prizes 

Team: RIGS 

Institution: Nanyang  

Technological University 

Team: SL Consulting 

Institution: National  

University of Singapore

CMA CGM 

Students may propose to expand the  CMA CGM Group’s range of ACT with  CMA CGM+ solutions that enable  shippers to analyse, reduce and offset  their carbon footprint; OR develop a  new portfolio of solutions which can  take shippers on the same environmental course beyond  decarbonisation. The expanded or  new portfolio may include best  practices or solutions that protect  ocean biodiversity through reef  recovery, plastic waste reduction  and/or other actions that could be  initiated to fight climate change and  protect biodiversity. The proposals will  package and price the solutions so  that shippers can invest and own the  initiatives to green their supply chains.

Grand Champion 

Team: Kumkuats 

Institution: National  

University of Singapore,  Nanyang Technological  University, Singapore  Management University 

1st Runner-up 

Team: Azure 

Institution: Nanyang  

Technological University 

2nd Runner-up 

Team: Hiraya 

Institution: Singapore  Management University,  Singapore University of  Technology and Design 

Merit Prizes 

Team: GAIA 

Institution: National  

University of Singapore 

Team: DAZZ 

Institution: Temasek  

Polytechnic

Standard  

Chartered

Students will develop a solution to  track and forecast asset carbon emissions, benchmarking results  against market peers and industry  emission reduction standards. Thereafter, students will construct a  framework to price the value of a  maritime carbon credit, where shipowners with high/low carbon emission ships can buy/sell into the  marketplace.

Institution: Nanyang  

Technological University 

1st Runner-up 

Team: W-COY 

Institution: National  

University of Singapore  and Singapore  

Management University 

2nd Runner-up 

Team: Min 

Institution: Singapore  University of Social  

Sciences 

Merit Prizes 

Team: Unstopppable 

Institution: Kaplan Higher  Education (Murdoch  

University) 

Team: 17th Floor 

Institutions: National  

University of Singapore

Toll Group 

Students will assume the role of  “Head of Sustainability and  Diversification” of Toll Group Asia to  map out the transition and  diversification of the Toll Offshore  Petroleum Services facility (TOPS)  business. This entails: (a) identifying  significant sustainability  enhancements of existing facilities in  TOPS, (b) identifying (‘green’)  investment opportunities to help drive  growth in the front end of the  business, and (c) identifying  improvement opportunities within the  back end of the business with clear  and quantifiable economic and  environmental impact.

Grand Champion 

Team: SFS 

Institution: Nanyang  

Polytechnic 

1st Runner-up 

Team: Kit Cat 

Institution: Singapore  University of Social  

Sciences 

2nd Runner-up 

Team: Tumblers 

Institution: Singapore  University of Social  

Sciences

Quote from Senior Minister of State for Transport 

“This diversity of skills and experiences will be crucial for Maritime Singapore to  transform and thrive in the years ahead. We want to attract more young people to join  the maritime industry, and to help grow Singapore’s position as a hub port and  international maritime centre,” said Mr. Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State for  Transport.  

Quote from SMF Chairman 

“This year’s MSC Maritime Case Summit attracted 172 students—the highest since  the Singapore Maritime Foundation began organising the competition in 2019. This is  an encouraging development as it signals a growing interest among the youth in the  maritime sector, an important contributor to the Singapore economy and a vital player  in the trade and supply chain ecosystem,” said Mr. Hor Weng Yew, Chairman of the  Singapore Maritime Foundation.  

Quote from BHP and Champion Team 

“The MSC Maritime Case Summit is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to  understand the current landscape of the maritime industry, particularly the actions  being taken around decarbonising the sector. We were overwhelmed by the innovative  ideas and perspectives the students brought to help solve some of the challenges that  we are facing in reducing emissions across the industry today,” said Ms. Sarah Greenough, Head of Maritime Supply Chain Sustainability and Excellence, BHP. 

“Youths like ourselves are vital in driving the decarbonisation agenda and realising  these efforts. Our team strongly resonates with the notion that we have to play our part  as individuals to protect the planet we reside on. This challenge was a platform for us  to channel our passion into action through our proposal,” said Ms. Elysia Tng, a Year  3 Business Management student from Singapore Management University and team  leader of Mixed Greens, champion for BHP’s challenge statement. 

Quote from CMA CGM and Champion Team 

Mr. Laurent Olmeta, Chief Executive Officer, CMA CGM Asia Pacific said, “We saw  innovative concepts of bringing shippers onboard to drive positive actions for climate  change with the CMA CGM Group. It is inspiring to see the students taking such keen  interests in driving sustainable development. As the CMA CGM Group races on to  become a Net Zero Carbon company by 2050 through energy transition, sustainable  operations and research and development, our young leaders will form the critical  maritime talent to imagine new solutions for the energy transition of the shipping and  logistics industry.” 

“Achieving a green supply chain is one of our team’s greatest wishes. We wanted to  contribute to this global effort of reducing waste in the supply chain through our  concept of an eco-marketplace that facilitates trade of recycled products. The case  challenge was a rare opportunity for us to showcase our business ideas and contribute  to the conversation around sustainability,” said Mr. Isaac Chua, a Year 3 Business  Administration, Operations and Supply Chain student at the National University of  Singapore and team leader of Kumkuats, winner of CMA CGM’s challenge statement. 

Team Kumkuats from National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and  Singapore Management University – Champion Team of CMA CGM 
Quote from Standard Chartered and Champion Team 

“Our challenge statement consisted of three elements – Shipping, Finance and  Sustainability. I was delighted to see a wide array of solutions proposed by students  across multiple disciplines. While the maritime students tackled the challenge  statement in a more technical manner, those from the business faculty tended to  provide in-depth theoretical solutions. Regardless, all their inputs have offered us fresh,  
invaluable perspectives on some of the existing problems faced by the shipping  industry, and we would like to express our appreciation to the participants for their  effort over the last three months. We would also like to thank the Singapore Maritime  Foundation for organising this exciting initiative and hope to collaborate again on future case summits,” said Mr. Chih Chwen Heng, Director, Shipping Finance, Standard  Chartered. 

“Our team firmly believes that sustainability is an essential aspect of maritime.  Everyone must be involved in decarbonisation to ensure the survivability of our planet  not just for this generation but the future ones as well. This challenge provided us with  the platform to present our recommendations that we hope will shape a greener world,”  said Mr. Edward Wong Jun Yang, a Year 3 Maritime Studies student from Nanyang  Technological University and team leader of 3.5, champion for Standard Chartered’s  challenge statement  

Quote from Toll Group and Champion Team 

“The pandemic has magnified the significance and role that the maritime and logistics  industry plays in global business operations. As such, Toll is heartened and excited by  the innovative ideas from participants – which both provide us refreshing insights on  how to make our operations sustainable, but also reflect a growing interest and  passion in this section. The winning proposal will go on to mould our efforts across our  operations in 25 markets so that we can continue to move the businesses that move  the world,” said Jonathon Kottegoda-Breden, Executive Vice President, Global  Logistics - Asia, Toll Group. 

“Sustainability is an issue that is growing in importance. With Toll Group actively taking  steps towards achieving sustainable goals, we wanted to contribute by recommending  actionable solutions under the mentorship of maritime professionals. Through this  challenge, we have obtained a deeper understanding on business considerations that  will prepare us well for the future,” said Mr. Dean Cheng, a Year 2 Supply Chain and  International Business student at Nanyang Polytechnic and team leader of SFS,  winner of Toll Group’s challenge statement.