Singapore Keeps Top Maritime City Spot as Shanghai Rises to Second
Asia now holds three of the five top maritime city places, up from two. Behind that sits a familiar leader: Singapore stays first in DNV and Menon Economics' latest ranking, with Shanghai moving up to second.
North America loses places
Vancouver fell furthest, from 13th to 28th. New York is still the best-placed North American city, but it went from sixth to eighth. Houston lost five places and sits 20th, and Los Angeles slid from 19th to 25th.
Looking ahead, the report also polled maritime experts about the next five years. Dubai came third among the cities they expect to lead the sector.
What keeps Singapore first
Singapore has held the top spot since the first edition in 2015. This year it won three of the five categories: Shipping, Ports and Logistics, and Attractiveness and Competitiveness. It placed third for Maritime Finance and Law and fourth for Maritime Technology.
The report ties that to the shipowners and fleet managers concentrated in the city-state, its port, its liner links and its growing alternative-fuel bunkering. Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria, CEO Maritime at DNV, said leadership "is built not on a single activity, but on breadth".
Who sits where in the top five
The Leading Maritime Cities 2026 report came out on Thursday. Its order is Singapore, Shanghai, London, Rotterdam and Tokyo.
Shanghai was fourth before, so it passed both Rotterdam and London. Tokyo returned to the group and Oslo, fifth in 2024, dropped out.
How the ranking is built
The shortlist of 50 cities came from a screening of more than 15,000. Each was scored on 48 indicators across five categories, and over 200 maritime experts worldwide also gave answers. This seventh edition widened the method to cover the energy transition, technology, workforce availability and resilience.
Source: gCaptain