Singapore maps out methanol bunkering with risk assessment workshop

Authorities recently conducted a hazard identification (HAZID) and hazard and operability study (HAZOP) workshop to ensure the safe handling of methanol as a fuel in the port of Singapore.

PHOTO: A cargo terminal at the port of Singapore. Getty Images

The workshop, which ran from 18-19 May, was in preparation for the port’s “first methanol bunkering operation”, scheduled for the third quarter of this year.

The two-day event helped identify and evaluate “potential risks, establish preventive measures, and develop methods for control and mitigation,” according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

The over 40 attendees included classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), bunker craft operator Hong Lam Marine, marine fuel provider Maersk Oil Trading, and trading companies Mitsui & Co, and Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore (METS).

Representatives from Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Manpower, the National Environment Agency, and the nation's civil defence force (SCDF) also participated in the workshop.

Singapore will commence methanol bunkering from the third quarter of 2023, MPA chief executive Eng Dih Teo said last month.

Some 80 stakeholders including ship agencies, companies, associations and research institutions like the Methanol Institute (MI) have already begun preparations for methanol bunkering, Teo added.

By Tuhin Roy

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