Singapore aims to be liquefied natural gas (LNG)-bunker ready in the next three years, according to the country’s Senior Minister of state for Trade and Industry, Koh Poh Koon.
The minister said this at an LNG bunkering demonstration held at Jurong Port on Tuesday by Pavilion Energy’s unit, Pavilion Gas. Pavilion Gas and FueLNG are the only two companies licensed as LNG bunker suppliers in Singapore.
The chilled fuel was supplied by a truck-to-ship method. According to the minister, this is the first time that LNG has been supplied to a ship from a port in Southeast Asia.
LNG bunkering is poised to grow in line with international developments in the maritime industry, in particular the decision by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) last October to limit global sulphur emissions to 0.5% from 2020, Koh said at the ceremony.
“We plan to be LNG bunker-ready as early as 2020, and today is an important milestone in this journey,” he said.
“For example, the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has a programme to co-fund up to S$2 million for LNG-fuelled harbour craft. I am excited that five such harbour craft will be coming on stream from 2018 onwards.”
The five harbour craft include tug boats and bunker tankers from Keppel SMIT, Maju Maritime, Harley Marine and Sinanju Tankers, Koh said.
Following the award of LNG bunkering licences to Pavilion and FueLNG last year, the MPA will embark on a three-year LNG bunkering pilot program this year.
“This will allow us to test operational protocols, gain operational experience and beef up Singapore’s capabilities to ensure that LNG bunkering is carried out safely, efficiently, and reliably,” he stressed.
The MPA has also recently launched Singapore’s first LNG bunkering standard which provides technical framework for conducting LNG bunkering operations in the country.
Singapore currently imports the chilled fuel via Singapore LNG Corporation’s terminal on Jurong Island, the only such a facility in the country.
“Its present throughput capacity of 6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) will be raised to 11 Mtpa when construction of additional regasification facilities is completed this year,” Koh said.
In addition, a fourth tank would be completed by the first quarter of 2018, increasing the terminal’s storage capacity to a total of 800,000m3, he added.
LNG World News Staff