Singapore’s first biofuel bunkering trial planned

A biofuels bunkering pilot project has been agreed in Singapore, and is expected to take place early in 2018.

The agreement comes after a closed door roundtable between the Marine and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), BHP and GoodFuels Marine. The event brought together shipowners of different ship types to network, share insights into the use of biofuels to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and explore areas of collaboration.

With support from MPA, BHP and GoodFuels signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate on a biofuels pilot project.

“We are pleased to facilitate discussions on the biofuels front along with our partners, BHP and GoodFuels,” said Andrew Tan, chief executive of the MPA.  

“The roundtable comes at an opportune time in light of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 0.5% global sulphur cap on marine fuels which will come into effect from 2020, as well as IMO’s longer term plan to lower carbon emissions for shipping. MPA welcomes dialogues across stakeholders and will continue to work with relevant parties as we prepare the bunkering industry for the future.”

The largest bunkering hub in the world, Singapore is striving to provide cleaner alternative sources of fuel to cater to the future energy needs of the global shipping industry. Included among the topics discussed at the recent roundtable were the barriers to the use of biofuels and how they could be addressed.

Abdes Karimi, Manager Ocean Freight Operations & Sustainability of BHP, said: “In a world fighting to combat climate change, it is important that marine biofuels get in the ‘evoked set’ of options for shippers to choose from. Today, BHP is proud to have taken the leading role in this initiative.”

“We are very proud that our ‘biofuel-footprint’ of supply locations and sustainable customers is spreading from Europe to the largest bunkering port in the world and our first Asian partner as well. From now on, sustainable marine biofuels are available in Singapore for those ship and freight owners that want to eliminate their carbon and sulphur emissions,” said Dirk Kronemeijer, chief executive of GoodFuels Marine.

Goodfuels Marine produces biofuel "drop-in" fuels to replace the use of fossil fuels in the maritime sector.  

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