Alternative Fuels

SIBCON 2022: Stakeholders discuss the future of Singapore’s bunkering landscape at session finale

MPA, Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services, and BP share their thoughts with Singapore Shipping Association in the final session of SIBCON 2022.

Published

4 years ago

October 14, 2022

Admin

Several stakeholders in Singapore’s bunkering industry provided insights on Singapore’s marine fuels landscape in the near future during a deep dive finale session at the 22nd edition of Singapore International Bunkering Conference, also known as SIBCON 2022, on Thursday (6 October).

Caroline Yang, Chief Executive of Hong Lam Marine and President of Singapore Shipping Association, who was moderating the session What’s Next in Singapore’s Marine Fuels Landscape, asked panellists their prediction on the main fuel types that will fuel ships and the types of carbon abatement measures they will see in 2030.

She also asked the panel about their thoughts if Singapore will remain the top bunkering port in a multi-fuel environment, what they foresee would be the expected fuel mix of 2030, expected investments that Singapore needs to have to maintain its top position, uptake rate of biofuel at the republic, and more.

Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation

Dr. Sanjay Kuttan, Chief Technology Officer, Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, who was one of the panellists, said there would be no major shifts in the fuel mix in 2030 if Singapore continues to remain as one of the largest transhipment ports in the world and the current rate of alternative fuels production remains unchanged.

“What you will begin to see is the emergence of LNG as a maritime fuel because there are 700 new LNG ships on order today. But that’s still a drop in the ocean of the 80,000 vessels that are on water,” he said.

“We will also the increased use of drop-in biofuels, specifically Gen 2 and possibly even Gen 3 biofuels will emerge by 2030. Even though you will see more biofuels entering the market, VLSFO still will be the dominant base fuel in 2030.”

He shared with the audience the Neste refinery in Singapore produces a significant amount of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), a good biofuel that can be mixed with marine gas oil (MGO), which presents an unique opportunity for Singapore to supply a 2nd generation biofuel at scale.

“Singapore could establish vertical algae farms for the production of 3rd Generation biofuels. So, I think if we push our imagination harder and if we want to become a biofuel hub for the shipping industry, we have the elements to actually realise that but only if it becomes a part of our national strategy.”

Dr Kuttan also pointed out that carbon abatement measures like ship board carbon capture systems can be powerful tools – but only if the industry is able to introduce a responsible solution to dispose the captured CO2 effectively.

“Ultimately, no matter how much CO2 you capture, you need to fix it and not release it into the air, so there’s still a few more building blocks to be established,” he notes.

“But I think we need to recognise that we need to use every solution in our “bag-of-tricks” to try and “bend-the-curve” as soon as possible because the technology is available, however, we must ensure that the overall lifecycle analysis of any solution needs to have a positive impact on Mother Nature.”

Anthony Tolani, General Manager – Australia and New Zealand, Trading and Shipping – bp Marine, agreed with Dr Kuttan’s sentiments on biofuels and added stakeholders are enthusiastic in joining in decarbonisation efforts – though not necessarily led by regulations at this point of time.

“What we’ve seen is a voluntary adoption of biofuel, particularly where there are no incentives available and I think that will continue to build,” he said.

He added regulators can also play a role as there are still some restrictions at the moment constraining the “free adoption of biofuels”.

“So what we’re seeing is an industry pushing for regulations to keep pace. Starting January 2030, we may see the emergence of methanol; however, predominantly it will be a larger uptake of biofuels, and LNG as well as VLSFO,” he said.

He also said it would be possible for biofuel bunker sales in Singapore to reach five million tonnes before 2030.

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Capt. Daknash Ganasen, Senior Director of Operations & Marine Services, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, echoed other panellists of SIBCON 2022 in suggesting there will be no clear winner at the moment in the anticipated fuel mix in the near term, but there are opportunities for every type of alternative bunker fuel.Capt Daknash said that shipping companies could also be looking into new renewable technology on board ships such as wind energy and solar energy to supplement or complement emission reduction in tandem.

He also gave his take if Singapore will remain the top bunkering port in a multi-fuel environment when it comes to marine fuel volume.

“We do, of course, definitely aspire to be the top bunkering port in the world as we move into a transition from fossil fuel to the next alternative fuel and renewable energy,” he said.

He noted MPA has partnered with various initiatives including being a member of the Castor Initiative and SABRE consortium, in itself is a testament that we aspire to be amongst the top bunkering ports in the world moving ahead as well,” he said

Capt Daknash also shared other initiative such as co-founding the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation to look into the various aspects of the challenges that the industry face moving towards 2030 and 2050, and initiatives with like-minded ports under the Future Fuel Port Network, which was formed with the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan where parties collaborate, share information, and work on best practices together.

Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services

Choong Sheen Mao, Director, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services (Equatorial), said there needs to be more strategic collaboration, not just within Singapore but also internationally.

“Equatorial sees Singapore as still being the leading bunkering hub in the world, especially with the focus on a multi-fuel future. Furthermore, the republic is not just a hub for bunkering, but a hub for many other aspects, such as financing, trading and digitalisation,” stated Mr Choong.

“The future is going to be much more complicated, requiring the Port to tackle difficult issues such as operational safety during ammonia bunkering.

“Nonetheless, good foundations have already been built over the years; for example the mandatory use of mass flow metering system paves the way to accurately measure the quantity of bunkers delivered, which may allow other things, such as accurate tracking of potential carbon emissions from the delivered products.

“Singapore has a strong and diverse ecosystem for us to adapt, collaborate and deal with future challenges. There has never been a more exciting time for the bunkering industry.”

He emphasised the company’s commitment to biofuels, adding: “Equatorial has already obtained our ISCC certification. There will be a gradual scaling up process in the adoption of alternate fuels, especially due to high prices.”

“Biofuel, because it is a drop-in fuel, it will be much more straightforward. Regulations will nonetheless have to kick in to incentivise shipowners to use such fuels. Short to medium term subsidies will help with the uptake of biofuel but, at the end of the day, the economics of consuming biofuel have to be sustainable in the long run.”

Mr Choong, meanwhile, noted decarbonisation developments within the shipping industry taking a rapid pace.

“Even within the past 18 months, the vocabulary of discussing about decarbonisation has matured rapidly. It is now quite established that the world will adopt the well-to-wake method in assessing carbon emissions. The industry has become much more refined and accurate in our references,” he explained.

“Before we discussed about the potential of ammonia [as an alternate marine fuel]. Now we speak about consuming green or blue ammonia. The transition to alternate fuels will be very interesting.

“How do we ensure that the price of transitional fuel or green fuel is competitive with conventional fuel? Could one solution be carbon taxes with a floating price mechanism against conventional fuels, with the involvement of price publishing agencies? This may assist us in the transition.

“Nevertheless, going green is going to be a very expensive exercise. Therefore, we need to be very selective in making sure we take the right steps. We cannot afford to take too many wrong steps. It will be too costly, especially to a single organisation.”

Manifold Times is an official media partner of SIBCON 2022; a series of articles related to the event written by the Singapore bunkering publication are as follows:

Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 14 October, 2022

LNG Bunkering

Chinese firms form pact for 20,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessel project

CM Energy Tech, Seacon Shipping Group and China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) signed a joint venture agreement for 1+1 20,000 cubic meter LNG bunkering vessels.

Published

2 days ago

June 5, 2026

Admin

CM Energy Tech Co Ltd, Seacon Shipping Group Holdings Limited and China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co Ltd on Tuesday (26 May) signed a joint venture agreement for the construction of 1+1 20,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels.

The parties also signed a shipbuilding contract for the first vessel, which will be constructed by China Merchants Heavy Industry.

The project combines CM Energy Tech’s access to the China Merchants Group ecosystem, Seacon Shipping Group’s expertise in ship management and operations, and China Merchants Heavy Industry’s shipbuilding capabilities. The partners said the initiative is intended to address the shortage of large-capacity LNG bunkering vessels in the Chinese market.

The newbuild LNG bunkering vessel will feature dual C-type independent cargo tanks and is designed with a boil-off rate of just 0.16% per day. It will also be capable of delivering LNG at a bunkering rate of up to 2,000 cbm per hour, enabling efficient refuelling of large LNG-fuelled vessels.

The vessel will be powered by Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines and will comply with IMO Tier III emissions requirements. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2028.

The three companies said they plan to further expand cooperation across the LNG value chain, strengthen their presence in the marine energy sector and provide customers with integrated LNG bunkering services focused on safety, operational efficiency and lower carbon emissions.

Photo credit: David Yu from Pixabay
Published: 5 June, 2026

Methanol

India’s Agastya inks green methanol offtake agreement with SAR Group

Agastya Green Fuels and SAR Group will work together to enable green methanol storage, bunkering, and marine fuel infrastructure across Sri Lanka.

Published

2 days ago

June 5, 2026

Admin

India’s clean energy conglomerate Agastya Group on Wednesday (3 June) said Agastya Green Fuels signed a long-term green methanol offtake agreement with Sri Lankan bunker supplier SAR Maritime Agencies, a SAR Group company, for the supply of 250,000 metric tonnes (mt) per annum of EU RFNBO RED III Compliant green methanol.

Agastya said the agreement establishes one of the largest green methanol supply partnerships in the Indian Ocean Region and marked a major step toward creating a new green maritime energy corridor connecting India and Sri Lanka.

The green methanol will be supplied from the Agastya Green Fuels Hub at Mulapeta Port, Andhra Pradesh, India, where Agastya is developing a green methanol export-oriented facility with a planned investment of USD 6 billion over the next six years. The facility is expected to produce 1 million mt per annum.

“Through this partnership, Agastya Green Fuels and SAR Group will work together to enable green methanol storage, bunkering, and marine fuel infrastructure across Sri Lanka, positioning Colombo, Hambantota, and Trincomalee as future clean-fuel hubs for global shipping,” the company said in a social media post.

“The Indian Ocean is emerging as the world’s next green fuel corridor. Agastya Green Fuels intends to be at its center,” said Shashi K Reddy Arjula, Founder and Group CEO of Agastya.

Photo credit: CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Published: 5 June, 2026

Alternative Fuels

DNV data shows shift in alternative-fuelled vessel ordering patterns

DNV says shipowners are adopting more varied fuel strategies, reflecting a growing emphasis on optionality, regulatory compliance and risk management in long-life vessel investments.

Published

2 days ago

June 5, 2026

Admin

DNV data shows shift in alternative-fuelled vessel ordering patterns

Latest data from classification society DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform showed a total of 36 new orders for alternative-fuelled vessels were placed in May 2026.

Activity was primarily driven by LPG/ethane carriers, which accounted for 26 of the orders. A further eight LNG-fuelled vessels were ordered, including six container vessels and two car carriers, alongside two ethanol-fuelled bulk carriers.

So far in 2026, a total of 119 orders have been placed for alternative-fuelled vessels. Of these, LNG-fuelled vessels (60) account for the largest share of the orderbook, with the majority of these (42) coming from the container segment, and a smaller share (12) from car carriers.

A further 50 orders have been placed for LPG/ethane carriers, while activity in other fuel types remains limited, with orders for methanol/ethanol (4), ammonia (4), and hydrogen (1).

By the end of May, the share of alternative-fuelled vessels in total tonnage was notably lower than over the same period in 2025.

DNV data shows shift in alternative-fuelled vessel ordering patterns

Jason Stefanatos, Global Decarbonization Director at DNV Maritime, said: “While the pace of alternative-fuelled contracting has varied compared to 2025, the industry continues to move forward in its transition, with owners advancing fuel and technology decisions against a backdrop of evolving regulatory and market conditions.

“As in previous years, ordering of alternative-fuelled vessels has been led by the container segment, but dynamics are shifting. While activity remains strong, the focus has moved towards smaller vessels, with fewer very large container ships, which are historically more likely to adopt alternative fuels, being ordered. At the same time, we are seeing increased activity in tanker and bulker segments.

“What is also becoming clearer is that fuel choice is no longer approached as a single bet. Owners are increasingly treating it as a portfolio decision, managing fuel optionality, timing of investment, and exposure to future regulation as they navigate long-life asset decisions.

“This is reflected in more varied ordering patterns, reinforcing that the transition is not progressing in a straight line.”

Photo credit: DNV
Published: 5 June, 2026