Connect with us

Business

Methanol Institute: EU’s Fit for 55 agenda is an opportunity for progress on shipping emissions

Recommends, amongst others, a steeper incremental increase of the FuelEU Maritime GHG reduction targets beyond 2030, accelerating faster than currently proposed.
Admin

Published

5 years ago

on

MI

The global trade association for the methanol industry Methanol Institute (MI) on Monday (18 October) released a statement regarding the European Union’s Fit for 55 package and the shipping industry’s transition.

The Methanol Institute (MI) has welcomed the European Union’s package of proposals known as Fit for 55 as an opportunity to advance the availability of alternative fuels for shipping. But MI has urged the Commission to consider how best to support the industry on the journey towards the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

In a recently published policy position paper MI states that supply-side mechanisms aimed at spurring the uptake of renewable fuels should be emphasized so as to make low carbon and net carbon neutral fuels more affordable and so drive the switch to renewables. MI also recommends a steeper incremental increase of the FuelEU Maritime GHG reduction targets beyond 2030, accelerating faster than currently proposed, to direct investment towards alternative fuels offering transitional pathways towards carbon neutrality.

MI also supports the extension of the Emissions Trading System to shipping as long as the system is grounded in Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and the concept of CO2 equivalence, but proposes a five-year phase-in, starting in 2030, to help overcome industry resistance to change and enable experience-building to be incorporated into the policy.

While the EU’s proposal to apply carbon pricing to extra-EU voyages under the ETS is an issue of concern for the shipping industry, the MI doubts that progress of climate action at the IMO will be sufficient to satisfy European lawmakers. Should the opportunity to impose a global fuel levy arise within the phase-in period, EU policymakers should be empowered to abandon the extension of ETS to maritime transport in favour of a more effective instrument with a global scope.

“To successfully facilitate the increased supply and use of alternative marine fuels, it is critical that the EU ETS yields a carbon price that proves sufficient to trigger a systemic shift towards renewable and lower carbon fuels for the maritime sector,” said Matthias Ólafsson, MI’s Manager of Government and Public Affairs, Europe. “The ETS and FuelEU Maritime initiatives must address the most significant challenge to achieving greenhouse gas emission ambitions of the maritime sector, which is the lack of clear vision and corresponding support required to ensure uptake of sustainable marine fuels.”

To safeguard interoperability between other Fit for 55 proposals and regulations formed on the international level, MI believes the well-to-wake/LCA methodology used in FuelEU maritime should also be reflected in the EU ETS and EU taxonomy for measuring emissions from maritime activities.

Other recommendations by the MI include:

  • The ETS and FuelEU Maritime should expressly state that GHG accounting be based on CO2 equivalence, not solely on CO2 levels and include all major greenhouse gases.
  • To better account for short-lived climate pollutants in marine transport, the Global Warming Potential should reflect a shorter timeframe of 20 years. For GHGs with a longer lifetime, a GWP of 100 years should be applied.
  • The ETS system should calculate the GHG performance of fuels based on a well-to-wake approach and apply CO2eq to reflect the complete environmental profile of fuels, in alignment with the provisions of FuelEU Maritime.

Note: To download a copy of the Policy Paper, click here.

 

Photo credit: Maksym Kaharlytskyi from Unsplash
Published: 19 October, 2021

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

Admin

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

RESIZED Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July). 

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions. 

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Admin

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

RESIZED Drew Beamer

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

  • That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

  • that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
  • that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
  • that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Related: Singapore: Director declares Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping’s inability to continue business
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping in court over DBS Bank bunker tanker loan
Related: Singapore: Bunker tanker “Coastal Neptune” arrested
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping, Coastal Logistics tankers enter S&P market

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

LNG Bunkering

PIL’s LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on LNG and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Admin

Published

21 hours ago

on

July 21, 2026

By

PIL's LNG dual-fuel boxship “Kota Elok” arrives in Singapore on maiden call

Singapore-based Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd on Monday (20 July) said its first 13,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessel, Kota Elok, recently made her maiden call to Singapore on 15 July.

As the first of 13 new 13,000 TEU vessels joining its fleet, Kota Elok is equipped to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and low-sulphur fuel oil that helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 

The vessel also incorporated energy-saving features and digital technologies to reduce fuel consumption and enhance operational performance, as well as a bow windshield to improve aerodynamics, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions over the course of long-haul voyages.

“Following Singapore, Kota Elok will continue her voyage on our East Coast Service 1 (ES1) route to South America, calling at ports in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina before returning to Asia,” the company said in a social media post. 

Kota Elok also became PIL’s first vessel to receive Lloyd’s Register certification for compliance with the IACS UR E26 and UR E27 cyber security requirements.

Developed by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), UR E26 and UR E27 are mandatory cyber resilience requirements for newbuild vessels contracted from 1 July 2024. 

 

Photo credit: Pacific International Lines
Published: 21 July, 2026

Continue Reading

Trending