The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has announced plans to invest S$12 million to boost LNG bunkering at the Port of Singapore.
Around half of the investment will be used to co-fund the building of new LNG bunker vessels as part of a programme to facilitate ship-to-ship LNG bunkering in the port.
The remaining half of the funding will be used to expand the MPA’s existing programme to support the construction of LNG-fuelled vessels. This ambitious shipbuilding project, launched in 2015, is also supported by Keppel SMIT Towage, Maju Maritime, Harley Marine Asia and Sinanju.
Applications open for LBV fund
“Applications for the new fund for the building of LNG bunker vessels are now open and MPA is inviting interested companies to tap on it to co-fund up to S$3 million per LNG bunker vessel,” the MPA said in a statement.
To apply, companies must be incorporated in Singapore, and the funded vessels must be registered with the Singapore Registry of Ships and licensed for bunkering activity in the Port of Singapore for a period of at least five years.
World’s largest bunkering hub
Last year, the MPA announced several new measures under its Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI) to drive uptake of LNG as a fuel. This strategy is backed by the government which has long pushed to develop as a regional LNG hub with sovereign wealth fund Temasek investing heavily to develop infrastructure and attract foreign LNG specialists to the island.
“As the world’s largest bunkering hub, MPA will support future demand by promoting the development of ship-to-ship LNG bunkering in the Port of Singapore. This will provide the industry greater confidence in the availability of LNG supply across key shipping routes,” Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA, said.
