Singapore to initiate study on LNG bunkering for car carriers

To promote LNG bunkering in Asia, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Ports and Harbours Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism of Japan (MLIT) will helm a working group, to conduct a feasibility study on LNG bunkering for car carriers plying between Japan and Singapore.

The working group will include Japan’s big three shippers – Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

    Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Transport of Singapore, said: “Shipping can be less pollutive and the IMO has introduced a 0.5% global sulphur cap by 2020.  This is an opportunity for Singapore and Japan to co-lead in a global search for solutions to make shipping greener.”

Under the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed in April, MPA and MLIT will conduct a study that will focus on the technical details, such as fuel tank capacities and refuelling requirements to assess the feasibility of running LNG-fuelled car carriers between Japan and Singapore. The MOC envisages cooperation between the two entities in areas such as port planning, port management and technological development in the port sector.

    Mr Keiichi Ishii, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan, stated: “I believe that Singapore, the world’s top bunkering port, and Japan, the world’s top LNG importer, have the responsibility to contribute to the development of global shipping through jointly promoting the use of LNG as marine fuel.”

Today, both countries are ready to provide LNG bunkering operations, using trucks and are now looking into the next phase of LNG bunkering for ocean-going vessels.

MPA and MLIT also signed a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding, concluded in Singapore in October 2016, to widen the network of LNG bunker-ready ports in Europe, US and Asia.