SIBCON 2024: EnterpriseSG to launch new Singapore standard for e-BDN
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by Admin
Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), through the Singapore Standards Council (SSC), will launch a new Singapore Standard (SS) 709 Specification for Digital Bunkering Supply Chain Documentation, according to Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Wednesday (9 October).
MPA said the new standard will ensure data consistency and interoperability between digital systems and facilitate smoother transactions through trusted and verifiable digital bunkering documents.
This comes following Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and the Ministry of Transport, announcing that from 1 April 2025, all bunker suppliers will be required to provide digital bunkering services and issue electronic bunker delivery notes (e-BDNs) as a default.
The move was decided following successful pilots conducted since 1 November 2023 with bunker suppliers, including the top 10 bunker players, in Singapore.
To further enhance transparency and transaction integrity in bunkering operations, MPA will also introduce a centralised e-BDN record verification facility. This enables key stakeholders to verify the e-BDN received against the information transmitted to MPA.
EnterpriseSG has also launched the revised Singapore Standard (SS) 648 Code of Practice for Bunker Mass Flow Metering to include data integrity and transmission requirements in line with this new digital standard.
In the first eight months of 2024, MPA said Singapore saw strong growth of approximately 7% in total bunker sales over the same period last year, reaching over 36 million tonnes. Biofuels and liquefied natural gas bunker sales surpassed 700,00 metric tonnes.
To support the operationalisation of a higher mix of low-carbon alternative fuels, both EnterpriseSG and MPA are developing the Singapore standards for methanol bunkering and ammonia bunkering by 2024 and 2025 respectively.
The standards will cover custody transfer requirements, safety procedures and crew competencies, to ensure safe bunkering operations and handling of these fuels.
MPA also announced that three major shipping lines — Hafnia, K-Line, and MOL — are in early discussions to join the Singapore – Port of Los Angeles (LA)- Port of Long Beach (LB) Green and Digital Shipping Corridor (GDSC) initiative.
Each partner would be expected to spearhead a project to advance the corridor’s decarbonisation and digitalisation goals, such as the adoption of net-zero fuels, Just-in-Time route optimisation, and energy efficiency technologies such as wind-assisted ship propulsion.
The addition of the new partners will significantly strengthen the GDSC’s capacity to drive innovation in sustainable shipping practices and accelerate the adoption of zero/near-zero emission fuels and green technologies along the corridor.
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Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 10 October, 2024
