Digital platform

SIBCON 2024: ZeroNorth discusses challenges and opportunities of Singapore digital bunkering landscape

Kenneth Juhls, Managing Director of ZeroNorth Bunker highlights Singapore alone presents a significant opportunity to digital bunkering with the significant amount of bunker fuel traded every year.

Published

3 months ago

October 15, 2024

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Singapore alone presents a significant opportunity to digital bunkering with the significant amount of bunker fuel traded every year, said Kenneth Juhls, Managing Director of digital bunkering platform solutions provider ZeroNorth Bunker on Tuesday (8 October).

Juhls said out of about 250 million tonnes of bunker fuels traded every year between suppliers and buyers around the world, 50 million tonnes of that is taking place in Singapore.

With that, there is a huge amount of paperwork and forms that are being filled out for the delivery between a supplier and a receiving vessel, and the amount of fuel has also been on another vessel or a tank.

“The entire value chain is filled up with paper documentation. There's huge opportunity here by digitising that,” he said during his Digital Deliveries and E-Bunker Delivery Note (eBDN) in Practice presentation at the Pre-Conference Symposium of the 23rd Singapore International Bunkering Conference (SIBCON 2024).

During his presentation, he described the key features of an electronic bunker delivery note (e-BDN) solution, including digital collaboration, error reduction, and increased safety.

He pointed out a “cool feature” in the e-BDN solution that may be overlooked is that it can now start to register all key timestamps of activities throughout the barge operations from planning to delivery.

“Here, you can see how effective you are in utilising assets, for both the supplier and barge operation side,” he said.

Juhls said efficiencies could also be gained when buyers choose to subscribe to an integration to the solution so they could also get all the delivery information automatically and digitally immediately after the BDN has been issued, instead of sending in an email, a paper format or waiting for administration staff to process it.

He also provided a timeline of Singapore's digitalisation efforts, starting from April 2021 with the initiative from MPA to accelerate digitalisation in the bunkering industry, the development of a minimal viable product by the end of 2022 and live trials throughout 2023.

SIBCON 2024: ZeroNorth discusses challenges and opportunities of Singapore digital bunkering landscape

Juhls ended his presentation by sharing ZeroNorth’s learnings over the two-year period including emphasis on the importance of ease of use, connectivity, and continuous improvement in the solution.

“We must remember the crew members are not on shore and are actually on sea which is not always easy to operate in those environments. So the e-BDN solution has to be easy and intuitive to use so they can execute their business,” he said.

He also said they encountered connectivity issues at some parts of some areas in the Port of Singapore which was a challenge. To overcome that, an offline mode is a critical component to execute the full workflow without being connected to the internet and submit everything to all the parties when the system is back online.

He highlighted the importance of working closely with customers and adapting the solution based on feedback.

“Even though we've now been live for more than 10 months, we still learn new things every day, and we still improve the solution,” he added.

Juhls concluded with the need for partnerships with first movers and ambitious companies to gather valuable insights for further development of the e-BDN solutions.

Photo credit: Manifold Times and ZeroNorth
Published: 15 October, 2024

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Lloyd’s List Intelligence acquires Infospectrum to drive maritime risk intelligence solutions

Combined business will enable LLI to build solutions that deliver actionable insights and help maritime customers successfully navigate key use cases associated with compliance, risk management and operations.

Published

2 weeks ago

January 14, 2025

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Lloyd’s List Intelligence acquires Infospectrum to drive maritime risk intelligence solutions

Maritime data, insights and analytics provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence (LLI) on Tuesday (14 January) announced the acquisition of Infospectrum, an independent provider of counterparty risk appraisal reports & data, due diligence research and KYC intelligence.

The acquisition expands LLI’s ability to deliver analysis and risk management intelligence solutions.

The integration of Infospectrum’s comprehensive counterparty risk appraisal, due diligence and KYC intelligence capabilities and data, will enable the combined business to provide customers with more accurate, reliable, and timely risk based decision-making solutions.

With the maritime sector facing increasing complexity from global sanctions, compliance, safety, geo-political and legal considerations, the combination will enable LLI to build solutions that deliver actionable insights and help customers successfully navigate key use cases associated with compliance, risk management and operations.

“The acquisition of Infospectrum is an important milestone for Lloyd’s List Intelligence,” said Michael Dell, CEO, Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

“This acquisition is a significant step forward in our mission to provide the most comprehensive and insightful risk intelligence solutions that support the global maritime industry. By combining our respective strengths, we will deliver stronger capabilities to our customers and enhance our ability to act as a provider of mission critical data, insights and analytics for the maritime sector as a whole.”

“We are excited to join forces with Lloyd’s List Intelligence,” said Panos Panousis, Managing Director, Infospectrum.

“This combination will unlock significant opportunities for both companies and provide the maritime ecosystem with access to a broader range of data, analytics, and intelligence. We are confident that together we will accelerate innovation and deliver exceptional solutions to the maritime industry.”

Photo credit: Lloyd’s List Intelligence
Published: 14 January, 2025

Classification Society

LR: Risk sharing key component to viable emissions reduction

When major change is introduced on a ship, there are numerous aspects to consider by all stakeholders involved which all add risk.

Published

4 weeks ago

December 31, 2024

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Shipping must be open to sharing the risks associated with emissions reduction to enable the uptake of energy savings devices and technologies (ESDs/ESTs) and digital applications, stated classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) representatives during a presentation at Athens during early December.

The responsibility of investing in and driving the uptake of new solutions must be borne by all relevant stakeholders and not sit solely with the shipowner. This extends not only to financial exposure, but also new vessel design and data sharing.

When major change is introduced on a ship, there are numerous aspects to consider by all stakeholders involved which all add risk. Energy producers, the energy consumers, the associated supply chains, and the investors, insurers, regulators, class societies and governments – all have critical, but different and highly inter-related roles to play within the transition.

“We are in a new era of shipping that comes with a different set of rules, including shipping companies’ approach risk and risk sharing,” shared Elina Papageorgiou, Global Strategic Growth Director and VP Greece and Cyprus at LR at the Powering Progress: Innovation and Energy in Maritime event.

“Longer-term investment decisions should also be informed by the decisions of shipping’s clients’, clients – the cargo owners – and align with their emissions reduction ambitions.”

David Lloyd, Director, Energy Transition at LR, meanwhile noted: “Smart vessel operation and well-informed, data-led investment decisions can significantly support vessel compliance. What’s more, investments don’t have to be extensive to achieve results.”

“Whilst uncertainties around bigger challenges such as alternative fuels and future requirements are resolved, ESDs and digital solutions can support the commercial viability of vessels as we approach 2030 with often surprisingly low levels of investment. But these investments should be shared across all stakeholders and not be limited to owners and financiers.”

Fotis Belexis, Technical Director of Starbulk Carriers, were amongst speakers discussing risk sharing across stakeholders for complex capital investments.

He pointed out that as existing vessels age, they cannot be replaced by newbuilds as there is insufficient global shipbuilding capacity to replenish the fleet with newer tonnage.

As such, older vessels may therefore remain in the market for longer than expected and not depreciate in value as has been the case in the past. Banks and other lenders must realise this and adjust their depreciation and lending models to suit when ship owners want to finance retrofits of ESDs on their older ships.

Moving forward, the room agreed energy saving devices (ESDs), such as wind-assisted ship propulsion, digital solutions and smart operations should all be considered as the in-service fleet using traditional marine fuels seeks to shave its bunker fuel consumption to comply with IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator, EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) and FuelEU regulations – the latter will which be in effect as of 1 January 2025.

As emissions reduction targets increase, with steeper increments than currently planned potentially being announced at the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting in May next year, data-led insight and scenario planning will become more important to understand where efficiencies can be gained.

Photo credit: Lloyd’s Register
Published: 31 December 2024

Bunker Fuel

Singapore: ExxonMobil completes 100 digital bunker deliveries with Bunkerchain

“As the first accredited bunker fuel supplier to introduce MFMS in Singapore, we are proud to lead the way in implementing eBDNs,” the company said in a social media post.

Published

1 month ago

December 23, 2024

Admin

ExxonMobil on Friday (20 December) said it has successfully completed over 100 bunker deliveries using electronic bunker delivery notes (eBDNs) in collaboration with Singapore-based Bunkerchain, its first approved eBDN vendor.

“As the first accredited bunker fuel supplier to introduce MFMS in Singapore, we are proud to lead the way in implementing eBDNs,” the company said in a social media post.

Ognjen Plakalovic, Head of Asia Pacific Aviation and Marine Sales, ExxonMobil, said: “Our implementation of eBDNs is expected to help drive efficiency, enhance trust, and boost productivity. We continue to advocate for transparency and value the advantages of digitisation.”

Starting from April 1, 2025, marine fuel suppliers in Singapore must offer digital bunkering services, including electronic bunker delivery notes (eBDNs). The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) expects this initiative to save the industry up to 40,000 man-days annually.

According to the MPA, the move will also enable more efficient data sharing between bunker buyers and suppliers, which will help streamline administrative processes, improve accountability, and facilitate regulatory compliance.

“Integrating eBDNs with mass flow metering systems (MFMS) greatly minimizes the risk of manual errors or intentional tampering with fuel quantity figures, thereby enhancing integrity and trust in fuel transactions,” the company added.