Singapore prepares to supply LNG bunkers by 2017

OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2016. The Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Singapore LNG (SLNG) have signed an initial deal to develop an interim truck loading facility for LNG bunkering, with MPA committing S\\$2mn (\\$1.46mn) to jointly fund the venture.

This was one of several developments designed to prepare Singapore to supply LNG bunkers by mid-2017 that Singapore's transport minister Ng Chee Meng announced at the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition in Singapore today. The truck loading facility will be used to provide LNG bunkering services. It will also be used to serve a variety of other industries that may require small volumes of LNG to be transported over land.

The MPA, together with national trade agency Spring Singapore, will also launch a technical reference for Singapore's LNG bunkering standards early next year, which will provide a framework for LNG bunkering operations.

An international focus group formed in 2014 by the MPA, Norwegian Maritime Authority and the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Jacksonville has developed a set of unified LNG bunkering procedures. The group has been expanded to include Japan and South Korea's Ulsan port authority through an initial deal that will deepen co-operation and information sharing on LNG. Japan and Singapore agreed to co-operate on setting up LNG bunker operations in both countries at an economic co-operation summit in Tokyo last month, eyeing future demand growth in LNG as a marine fuel.

MPA has awarded S\\$8mn to Keppel Smit Towage, Maju Maritime and Harley Marine Asia to co-fund the construction of their new LNG-fuelled vessels. MPA had allocated S\\$12mn for the LNG-fuelled vessel funding programme. It had earlier said it would provide a grant of up to \\$2mn for each newly built LNG fuelled vessel. Tugboats and bunker tankers will be the types of vessels built.

MPA will waive five years of port dues for new LNG-fuelled harbour craft that register with MPA between 1 October 2017 and 31 December 2019. The fee waiver is aimed at encouraging the use of LNG bunkers by local harbour vessels. Those that qualify for the MPA's green port programme and that engage LNG-fuelled harbour craft for their port operations will receive a further 10pc in port concessions. The green port programme applies to ocean-going ships calling at the port of Singapore and encourages them to reduce the emission of pollutants.

MPA awarded LNG bunker licences earlier this year to state-owned Pavilion Gas and a joint venture between UK energy firm BG, now owned by Shell, and Singapore's Keppel Offshore and Marine, allowing them to supply LNG to vessels in the country's ports from next year.