“Dear Ernest,

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Mariners Network, 7th May 2018.  I write this in my capacity as President of the Society of Floating Solutions (Singapore.)  Do visit our website is www.floatingsolutions.org.

Allow me to recap the presentation, which Dr Sabet and I made that evening for the benefit of your members who were not present.

Two challenges face Singapore: land and energy.  Our naval architects and marine engineers have the skill sets and experience to make a positive contribution in addressing these challenges in ways, which are alien to the engineers and architects on land.  We (I am a marine engineer as well as one who practiced on land) have a moral obligation to step forward to share those skill sets with our brethren on land.

In preparing for the projected population growth, the government estimates we need another 56 million square meters of land.  There are new ways to create space for development other than importing sand, which is harmful to the marine eco-system here as well as to those areas where the sand is mined.  These “new” ways are in fact not new.  Our naval architects and marine engineers have made many notable contributions to the world at large.

The same sets of skills can now be applied to solving Singapore’s dire land shortage.  Dire is not an exaggeration. There are only four countries with population density higher than 5,000 people: Macau, Monaco, Hong Kong and Singapore.  The first three have vast hinterlands to support their economic activities.  Singapore is projected by the CEO of HDB to have a density 13,700 persons/sq km by 2030.

A consequence of this is more pressure on our transport, health, and education infrastructure.  Apartments that have grown smaller by about 5% (according to HDB) will get smaller.  In short, the quality of life will suffer as our population density increases.

Our city planners have not availed themselves of solutions now being exploited by countries such as the Netherlands, Norway in the west and Japan and Korea in the east.  Our marine fraternity cannot afford to sit idly by as city planners struggle to pack more houses and roads into this little red dot…  We need to step forward and actively offer solutions with the skill sets that have made us a global leader in the offshore oil and gas rig industry.

I call on all members of the Mariners Network, particularly members of SNAMES and the Joint Branch of IMarEST and RINA to step forward and serve the nation with your knowledge in designing and delivering floating structures for work, living and playing.  I do not wish to sound melodramatic but undeniably, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to share our experience with professionals on land to create alternative spaces for their enjoyment.

I invited my colleague to speak on floating structures.  I am glad he agreed.  In brief, he talked about the construction of a 138 m x 46 m floating concrete dry dock.  With the two wing walls removed, it is a piece of “land” with a “lease” of 200 years, complete with a foundation design for 50 tons/sq. m.  It demonstrates the cost effectiveness such solutions.  It is also sustainable.  It does not suffer the indignity of being razed to the ground and leaving behind a large carbon footprint as all our buildings appear to be destined.  Instead after its economic usefulness is served it can be deployed to a third world country where it can be given a new lease of life as a platform for the construction of a school or hospital, or berthed somewhere as a floating farm.

I hope this message will move some of you (especially those who have retired) to do something worthwhile in the service of the nation.  Please forward this message to your friends.

On a separate note, I would like to announce that the Society would like raise awareness of this disruptive technology at its World Conference on Floating Solutions 2019 to be held in April 2019 in Singapore where leaders in the industry from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Norway, and the Netherland will discuss novel and disruptive ideas.  We have also invited an innovator who has a build a three-tier combo farm for cattle, vegetables and fish, sometime later this year. Watch for updates at our website. 

Ernest, thank you for being such a generous host as always.

With best wishes to the Mariners Network,

Lim Soon Heng, PE, FIMarEST

President,

Society of FLOATING SOLUTIONS (Singapore)”