Decarbonisation key to green initiative

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s (MPA) Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI) will be revised and extended until the end of 2024.

New carbon emissions-related incentives will replace existing sulphur emissions-related ones in MSGI’s Green Ship Programme and Green Port Programme. The Green Ship Programme will also have a new incentive to encourage adoption of engines using alternative fuels with lower carbon content such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), while the Green Port Programme will introduce new incentives for the use of LNG bunker during port stay and for ships exceeding IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index requirements.

“Beyond meeting the 2020 sulphur limit, we are aiming to fully embrace sustainability and prepare ourselves for a lower-carbon future,” said Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of MPA, who explained the port authority’s plans at the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) Forum 2019.

Speaking about MSGI, Ms Ley Hoon said: “We will give it a new focus on decarbonisation.”

MSGI has been one of MPA’s key sustainability initiatives since its introduction in 2011. In addition to the Green Ship Programme and Green Port Programme, MSGI incorporates the Green Technology Programme, Green Energy Programme and Green Awareness programme.

Regarding MSGI’s focus on decarbonisation, Ms Ley Hoon stated: “For example, we hope that the Green Awareness Programme will encourage you to start exploring carbon reporting and internal carbon pricing.”

Backing LNG

MPA has supported the building of two LNG bunker vessels to facilitate ship-to-ship LNG bunkering for ocean-going vessels from Q3 2020 onwards.

“Our two LNG bunker supplier licenses, FueLNG and Pavilion, have performed more than 150 truck-to-ship LNG bunkering operations. Singapore also performed the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering of Sleipnir at Sembcorp Marine earlier this July,” Ms Ley Hoon said.

MPA is also preparing for the first simultaneous operations for LNG bunkering and cargo operations to take place next year.

LNG “is the only viable solution at scale for the shipping industry for now,” Ms Ley Hoon stressed. She said the port is expecting more LNG vessels and will continue to work with partners to help it become “a key LNG bunkering hub for the region and the world”.