Hong Kong Maritime Week 2025: Towards a Green Port Future

The week-long programme features more than 50 activities and is expected to attract over 18,000 participants, alongside two major anchor events: the World Maritime Merchants Forum 2025 and the Asian Logistics, Maritime and Aviation Conference (ALMAC 2025).

Hong Kong affirms its status as a maritime “capital” in the green era

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stressed that in the midst of geopolitical and economic volatility, a stable and reliable maritime centre like Hong Kong is of growing strategic importance. He noted that Hong Kong has remained among the world’s top four international shipping centres for six consecutive years, highly rated by the global community for market depth, service quality and its dynamic maritime ecosystem.

Building on that foundation, Hong Kong aims to become the region’s leading hub for the supply and trading of green marine fuels - a convergence point for new fuels such as green methanol, ammonia and hydrogen. The Chief Executive called on stakeholders to work together to develop “green shipping corridors” and “digital trade corridors”, thereby shaping a new maritime transport architecture that is safe and efficient while meeting global sustainability standards.

In a video message, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Antonio Domínguez Velasco also underlined that Hong Kong is both a strategic port and a major maritime services centre, contributing to the seaborne transport of some 80% of world trade – clear evidence of the irreplaceable role of shipping in the global value chain.

Port partnership network and the rail - sea - river corridors

One of the three major highlights on opening day was the announcement of a new series of “partner ports” and cooperation agreements between Hong Kong port operators and regional counterparts. For the first time, Hong Kong is joining hands with ports in Guangxi, the Beibu Gulf and the new Western Land-Sea Corridor, extending intermodal connections from Sichuan and Chongqing through Guangxi to Hong Kong via an integrated rail-sea-river network.

The memoranda of understanding signed aim to develop “boutique” service routes for container and general cargo, creating deeper links between ports in Southwest China and the Hong Kong port cluster. In parallel, the partners will step up data-sharing, particularly on cargo information for sea–rail services between ports. This is expected to help complete the “rail–sea–land–river” intermodal framework that the HKSAR Government has highlighted in its 2025 Policy Address.

At the Government Summit during the World Maritime Merchants Forum 2025, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mable Chan, emphasised that Central Government support for strengthening Hong Kong’s status as an international maritime centre is a “key driving force” for the sector’s development strategy. She noted that Hong Kong is simultaneously expanding its network of partner ports along the Belt and Road, improving the “rail-sea-land-river” intermodal system, reforming tax arrangements for commodity traders and enhancing the flexibility of ship registration - steps designed to keep Hong Kong in the leading pack of the global race towards greener and smarter shipping.

The opening of “Hong Kong Maritime Week 2025” also marked the official establishment of the Hong Kong Shipowners Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association - an important milestone in completing the local chain of insurance and P&I services, and reducing reliance on traditional insurance centres in Europe.

Parallel conference cluster: Maritime Week joins hands with ALMAC

What sets this year’s Maritime Week apart is the close interlinking of specialist forums, forming an extended “event cluster” at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Alongside the World Maritime Merchants Forum 2025 and the conference “Hong Kong: Global Maritime Hub,” ALMAC 2025 serves as the logistics and aviation pillar of Maritime Week. Here, cargo owners, port operators, shipping lines, airlines and logistics service providers come together to discuss the architecture of a re-shaped supply chain.

Running in parallel are a host of other high-profile international events: the Global Maritime Trade Summit organised by the International Chamber of Shipping, the 2025 Annual Convention of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) focusing on alternative fuels, and two IMO thematic workshops on ship recycling and the energy transition in maritime transport. The presence of these “heavyweight players” reflects the international community’s confidence in Hong Kong’s role as a key node in the green transformation of the shipping industry.

Beyond policy discussion, the organisers have also partnered with TVB to produce two special feature programmes on Hong Kong Maritime Week 2025, aired during prime time to deliver messages about green ports, green finance and technological innovation to a wide audience - from industry professionals to the general public.

Hong Kong repositions itself as a global maritime centre

With its three core highlights - a strong green message, an expanded port partnership network and a cluster of high-level conferences - Hong Kong Maritime Week 2025 clearly reflects the city’s ambition: not only to maintain its ranking among international shipping centres, but also to evolve into a solutions hub for the decarbonisation of global shipping.

As Maritime Week joins hands closely with ALMAC and other specialist forums, Hong Kong is maximising its advantage as a “super connector” between finance, services, technology and ports - a platform where ideas for green shipping corridors, digital logistics networks and new intermodal models are gradually taking shape. In this picture, preserving institutional credibility, service quality and openness to innovation will determine whether Hong Kong can become the new benchmark for “green maritime capitals” in the decade ahead.