MPA invites proposals to facilitate methanol bunkering in Singapore

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting proposals from parties interested in supplying methanol as bunker fuel in the Port of Singapore.

PHOTO: Cargo terminal at the Port of Singapore. Getty Images

The EOI intends to “gather proposals for the implementation of end-to-end methanol bunkering solutions in Singapore from 2025” in a bid to address the bunkering needs in the port with “the expected delivery of methanol-capable vessels in the coming years,” the port authority said.

Classification society’s DNV latest tally shows that there are now 234 confirmed methanol-fuelled vessels in operation and on order.

“Arising from industry feedback & demand projections, methanol demand volume in the Port of Singapore has the potential to exceed 1 million tons per annum (MTPA) before 2030,” MPA’s chief executive Eng Dih Teo said in a social media post.

The EOI will be focused on three primary areas:

• Methanol supply sources.
• Methanol bunkering operation model which includes storage, supply and delivery of methanol to Singapore, along with quality assurance, safe handling and emergency response measures for the same.
• Alternatives to the physical transfer of methanol to Singapore such as mass balancing – “a chain-of-custody approach that tracks the sustainable content through the production process and ensures its appropriate allocation in the finished product(s).”

The EOI follows the completion of Singapore’s first ship-to-containership methanol bunkering operation in July this year.

The port authority is also working with industry parties to “study methanol supplies, infrastructure requirements such as terminal facilities and methanol-carrying bunker tankers, seafarers training, and bunkering standards,” to facilitate methanol supply and bunkering in Singapore.

“The launch of this EOI marks an important step towards the development of a methanol licensing framework to enable the supply of methanol at scale in the Port of Singapore,” Teo concludes.

The MPA will be accepting proposals from interested parties until 29 February 2024.

By Tuhin Roy

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