Alternative Fuels

MPA, NUS Enterprise launches PIER71™ Smart Port Challenge 2023

Competition features 12 challenge statements covering areas such as maritime decarbonisation, including some related to the bunker fuel sector particularly on biofuels and ammonia.

Published

1 year ago

June 12, 2023

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The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), launched PIER71™’s Smart Port Challenge (SPC) 2023 on Thursday (8 June) at InnovFest x Elevating Founders 2023, the official start-up event of Asia Tech x Singapore.

SPC 2023 was officially launched by Mr Niam Chiang Meng, MPA Chairman at the event comprising international start-ups, venture capitalists, and other corporate participants. The opening ceremony also featured a panel discussion on “Achieving Energy Transition in the Maritime Industry” with speakers from Kuok Maritime, SeaTech Solutions International, Sinoda Shipping Agency and SPC 2022 Special Mention winner SunGreenH2.

Challenge Statements for SPC 2023

SPC is an annual innovation competition to find the best ideas and solutions from technology start-ups to address challenges and innovation opportunities, put forth by the maritime industry. SPC 2023 has 12 challenge statements spanning key areas such as maritime decarbonisation, smart port operations, and supply chain resilience. Some of the challenge statements are related to the marine fuel sector such as:

Accelerating Biofuel Adoption: How Can We Increase the Adoption of Biofuels Through Assurance of their Quality and Traceability?
Building Confidence in Ammonia: How Can We Build Confidence in Ammonia as a Maritime Fuel?

Technology start-ups based in Singapore as well as those based overseas are invited to submit their proposals by 31 July 2023.

Shortlisted start-ups will be mentored by 21 maritime companies under the PIER71™ Accelerate programme and may be eligible for a MPA MINT-STARTUP grant of up to SGD 100,000. They will also receive support through PIER71™’s global network of partners. The top three winners for SPC 2023 will be awarded with cash prizes at the grand finals in November 2023. The PIER71™ programme has supported over 100 start-ups, and these start-ups have raised over S$50million in venture capital and MPA grant funding since the programme’s inception.

SPC 2023 3

In his video address, Mr Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport highlighted that PIER71™ alumni had made their mark globally, adding that he was encouraged to see their growth and success as they expanded operations and scaled up their product offerings. He also called for aspiring entrepreneurs and technology start-ups in Singapore to join SPC 2023, to solve the most pressing challenges facing the maritime industry and to shape the future of Maritime Singapore.

Mr Kenneth Lim, MPA’s Assistant Chief Executive (Industry & Transformation) said, “Going into its seventh year, the Smart Port Challenge continues to break down obstacles for innovations to be adapted and adopted in Maritime Singapore. Strong collaboration plays a vital role in supporting the transformation of the maritime industry, and we hope the gathering of PIER71™ alumni, our corporate partners, and VCs will continue to fuel the growth of the new Marinetech start-ups coming into PIER71™ this year”.

Professor Chen Tsuhan, NUS Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), said, “We look forward to onboarding a new cohort of start-ups into the Smart Port Challenge PIER71TM Accelerate programme with the anticipation that they will bring forth exciting technologies and innovative solutions to address the maritime industry’s challenges. With support from the wider maritime ecosystem to nurture and promote their growth, we are certain that these start-ups and the wider PIER71™ alumni will unlock new possibilities in efficiency, safety and environmental sustainability that will make an impactful contribution to the maritime industry.”

Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT)-STARTUP grant

Five start-ups from SPC 2022 and SPC 2021 were also awarded the MINT-STARTUP grant at the event.

The grant will support prototype development and test-bedding of solutions to facilitate commercialisation. This brings the total number of grant recipients to 55. These five start-ups are collaborating with maritime corporate partners from PIER71™ on pilot projects that leverage data analytics, artificial intelligence, and upcycling of waste to produce high-value products, amongst others.

Some of the projects were bunker-related including Green COP Pte Ltd which will be conducting trials of butanol-based biofuels for harbour crafts. The project proposes to create a circular economy solution to produce biofuels which can be used as interim or transitional fuels by recycling the agricultural waste. The company has an innovative pre-treatment and fermentation technology to produce biofuels (Butanol) by upcycling biowaste.

PIER71™ expands its Venture Capitalist Network

To further enhance the maritime ecosystem, PIER71TM Venture Capitalist Network will be expanded to include four new venture capitalists with SGD $6 million in funds to support promising maritime start-ups. The four venture capitalists are Narwhale Ventures, Tradeworks.vc, Kibo Invest, and Paragon Ventures. This brings the total number of venture capitalists under the PIER71™ Venture Capitalist Network to 12.

A recording of the SPC 2023 launch event will be available on https://pier71.sg.

Note: A full list of SPC 2023 challenge statements and recipients of the MINT-STARTUP Grant is available here.

Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 12 June, 2023

Bunker Fuel

SIBCON 2024: Singapore bunker suppliers must provide e-BDN from 1 April 2025

Senior Minister of State Amy Khor also announced MPA will reduce the frequency of verification checks for mass flow meters from twice a year currently, to once a year, from 1 April 2025.

Published

5 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Admin

SIBCON 2024: Singapore bunker suppliers must provide e-BDN from 1 April 2025

From 1 April 2025, all bunker suppliers in the Port of Singapore will be required to provide digital bunkering services as a default, said Senior Minister of State for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor on Wednesday (9 October).

Khor said Singapore will be the first port globally to implement digital bunkering at scale. MPA launched the digital bunkering initiative on 1 November 2023, becoming the first port in the world to implement electronic bunker delivery notes (e-BDN).

“This initiative is expected to save the industry close to 40,000 man-days annually. In addition, MPA will introduce a centralised electronic Bunker Delivery Note record verification facility to enhance the transparency and integrity of transactions in bunkering operations,” she said in her speech at the 23rd Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON).

She emphasised that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will work closely with industry partners and the unions to digitalise and streamline processes to improve efficiency in our port; strengthen our capabilities for the bunkering of future fuels and encourage adoption of these fuels; and upskill our workforce to facilitate the green transition.

Khor also made the following announcements:

From 1 April 2025, MPA will reduce the frequency of verification checks for mass flow meters from twice a year currently, to once a year. Singapore was the first port globally to adopt mass flow meters in 2017, and this new move is expected to help the industry save approximately $300,000 annually.
From 1 January 2025, MPA will roll out two innovative AI applications, DocuMind and DocuMatch, developed in collaboration with cloud service providers to drive greater efficiency in our port. These are expected to accelerate certificate processing time from up to three days currently, to a few minutes for most transactions.
Two ammonia bunkering proposals by Mitsui and Fortescue-Equatorial Marine Fuels have been selected by the consortia for the next round of Request for Proposal to provide a low- or zero-carbon ammonia solution on Jurong Island for power generation and bunkering.
MPA will commit $50 million to support the implementation of the refreshed Maritime Singapore Green Initiative, to further encourage the early adoption of green fuels and technologies across the maritime industry.
Singapore will continue to strengthen international partnerships through initiatives like the Green and Digital Shipping Corridors (GDSCs) to enable the digitalisation and decarbonisation of shipping. On 9 October, MPA and the Shandong Provincial Transport Department will be signing the Singapore-Shandong GDSC at the sidelines of the 25th Singapore-Shandong Business Council co-chaired by Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance, and Mr Zhou Naixiang, Governor of the Shandong Provincial Government.

Photo credit: Singapore Ministry of Transport
Published: 9 October, 2024

LNG Bunkering

Seaspan Energy takes delivery of first LNG bunkering vessel

“Seaspan Garibaldi” will take first cargo and finalise commissioning in Vancouver before its first ship-to-ship bunkering in Long Beach, where Seaspan will bunker a series of vessels.

Published

5 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Admin

Seaspan Energy takes delivery of first LNG bunkering vessel “Seaspan Garibaldi”

Seaspan Energy on Monday (7 October) said it took delivery of its first LNG bunkering vessel, the Seaspan Garibaldi and is currently sailing to Vancouver.

Manifold Times previously reported that the vessel is the first of three 7,600m3 LNG bunkering vessels and it is named after Mount Garibaldi, or “Nch'ḵay̓”.

The Garibaldi will take first cargo and finalise commissioning in Vancouver before its first ship-to-ship bunkering in Long Beach, where Seaspan will provide Simultaneous Operations to bunker a series of vessels.

Following its first bunkering, the Seaspan Garibaldi will continue to provide low-carbon solutions to vessels on the West Coast of North America and will soon be joined by Seaspan Energy’s second LNG bunkering vessel, the Seaspan Lions (Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn).

The Seaspan Garibaldi is 112.8 metres in length, 18.6 metres in width, 5 metres in draft, with a design speed of 13 knots.

CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE), a small-scale gas carrier shipyard in the world, was appointed to build all three LNG bunkering vessels.

Photo credit: Seaspan
Published: 9 October, 2024

LNG Bunkering

Avenir LNG, Eni ink multi-year charter for LNG bunker vessel “Avenir Aspiration”

Avenir signed a Time Charter Party with Eni subsidiary LNG Shipping for one of the company’s 7,500cbm LNG bunker vessels; charter to Eni will commence from delivery in Europe in 2025.

Published

5 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Admin

Avenir LNG orders two 20,000cbm LNG bunker and supply vessels from CIMC SOE

Avenir LNG Limited on Tuesday (8 October) announced it has signed a Time Charter Party (TCP) with LNG Shipping S.p.A., a 100% subsidiary of Eni S.p.A.(Eni) for one of the company’s 7,500cbm LNG bunker vessels, the Avenir Aspiration.

The multi-year time charter to Eni will commence from delivery in Europe in 2025.

With this announcement, Avenir continues to deliver on its chartering strategy which has successfully concluded four new term charter agreements over the past 12 months across its fleet of five vessels on the water and two under construction.

This charter increases the company’s third-party charter revenue backlog, including options, to over USD 285 million, securing additional long term sustainable cashflow for the Group and shareholders over the next decade.

The Avenir Aspiration currently trades alongside the Avenir Ascension in the Northwest Europe performing small-scale supply services and ship-to-ship bunkering operations as part of Avenir’s physical LNG trading division, Avenir Supply and Trading.

Mr. Jonathan Quinn, Managing Director of Avenir LNG, said: “We are excited to be working with Eni to support their expansion into the LNG Bunkering market.”

“This transaction further solidifies Avenir as the trusted partner for modern and efficient small-scale LNG vessels as well as delivering on our strategy to facilitate the growth of LNG as a marine fuel globally.”

“We look forward to embarking on this long-term relationship with Eni whom we will serve with the highest safety and operational standards which Avenir has come to be known for.”

Photo credit: Avenir LNG
Published: 9 October, 2024