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Singapore bunker players continue Business Continuity Plans in response to COVID-19

Manifold Times checks along the bunker supply chain on how various companies are managing operations after the republic entered DORSCON Orange in response to COVID-19.

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The Singapore bunkering sector underwent changes after the Ministry of Health (MOH) increased its Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk assessment to DORSCON Orange.

The development over a month ago has led to several firms along the marine fuels supply chain actively responding by implementing Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).

These entities included bunker supplier Global Marine Transportation, marine fuels testing laboratory and surveying firm Veritas Petroleum Services, mass flowmeter manufacturer Endress+Hauser, and trading house Synergy Asia Bunkering.

Singapore bunker publication Manifold Times spoke to these entities, including the International Bunker Industry Association and others, to find out how the industry has been operating to date.

Global Marine Transportation

Aaron Tan, General Manager at Global Marine Transportation (GMT), notes the bunker supplier was among the first of such firms to obtain BCP certification by Lloyds Register since 2011 - resulting in the company being well prepared for COVID-19.

"Since DORSCON Orange, we have been carrying out additional precautionary steps and checks as part of the measures implemented by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and various Ship Managers," he said.

"The additional steps have resulted in some operations experiencing slightly longer durations but this was necessary as part of the standard operations procedure.

"To overcome this, we have established cooperation with other bunker suppliers who can assist to supply bunkers on our behalf should there be a disruption to the operations."

GMT has divided its office staff into two teams where a team is to work in office while the other team works from home until further notice as part of its BCP. In addition, all visitors to the office are to declare their health status as part of the building management's precautionary measures.

While all GMT staff are advised to defer from non-essential travelling, others who have travelled overseas have been arranged to undergo self-quarantine onshore for at least 14 days for health monitoring before they can report to work in office or join its bunker tankers, shares Tan.

"We have to adjust the duty shift roster for those directly and indirectly affected by the quarantine and we appreciate all staff and crew's understanding during this period of time," he notes.

"As part of our BCP, we have been carrying out yearly exercises for such situation, hence all staff have understood the importance of the exercise and are able to adapt to the above arrangement in the shortest time possible."

Veritas Petroleum Services

Veritas Petroleum Services is well prepared and following recommended guidelines issued by the MOH and MPA, says Rahul Choudhuri, Managing Director, AMEA, who adds operations have continued with minimal disruption despite COVID-19.

"We have a large group of surveyors and work must go on. We are prepared and know we have an important service to provide; hence, we will not compromise on that," he told Manifold Times.

"We are as strict as need to be for both house staff working indoors and surveyors working in the field. We are already conducting daily temperature checks and practising increased hygiene very much in line with MOH guidelines.

"The main message is for my staff to look ahead. We take precautions, but we don't dwell on fear. There is a need to be cautious and very careful but there is also a need to not panic.

"I think Singapore is setting a perfect example of this. Singapore has shown to be the gold standard in controlling this scare, according to the World Health Organization, but it doesn't mean we should be complacent."

Endress+Hauser

Khay Guan (KG) Lim, CEO and Managing Director at Endress+Hauser (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd, noted the company's sales and support services for the bunkering industry has remained available and un-disrupted.

"Even before DORSCON Orange, the Singapore executive team had already updated the BCP, implemented travel history declarations with all her employees, restricted all non-essential travels to mainland China, and imposed 14 days Leave of Absence (LOA) for those with contact or travel history to China," he shared.

"Temperature screening and travel history registration was implemented for all visitors to our office."

The company further held an extraordinary town hall meeting on the Monday morning following DORSCON Orange to communicate to all employees the activation of its Business Continuity Plan, notes KG.

"A BCP manager and a backup assistant was appointed to coordinate all BCP actions," he said.

"A WhatsApp channel dedicated to COVID-19 BCP related topics and company announcements was also launched. We segregated our company into split teams, with each team alternating their workplace between office and home on a weekly basis.

"With respect to our customers' desire to minimise physical visits without compromising the availability of our services, we guided our customers to our online e-commerce platform, endress.com, for all technical support, commercial enquiries and purchase transactions."

The Singapore office of Endress+Hauser also had help from sister firms around the world in setting up its BCP.

"We had some difficulty replenishing our masks with local suppliers but fortunately we were able to source them from our sister companies in other countries,” added KG.

"We also had to quickly set up a satellite office within a week to handle new project staging and acceptance testing while maintaining segregation from our main office.

"All these challenges we were able to overcome because of the support, diligence and collaboration of our E+H associates."

Synergy Asia Bunkering*

Steven Low, Director at Synergy Asia Bunkering (SAB), informs the company implemented BCP since the first week of February and has introduced several changes to its trading operations since DOSCON Orange.

“We have introduced rotating shifts for our traders while support staff had their standard working hours [9.30am to 6pm] changed to 11am to 4pm to avoid the packed crowd during peak travelling times,”

The company’s specialised Vietnam bunker supply business was also not left out.

“Staff at the Vietnam office have been asked to work from home while barge crew are now all required to wear masks during fuel deliveries. For customers in Vietnam, we additionally send them masks as gifts.

“Overall, client meetings are still going on and we try to meet either at open air locations or via video calls. On and off, we also leave short messages and e-cards reminding them on good hygiene.

“Right now, it’s safety first for all and we expect to continue BCP until when sky is clear. Right now, we believe it is still very gloomy and getting bad to worse so we plan to continue this for another good six months.”

International Bunker Industry Association

“Singapore, as a whole country from Government to our fellow Singaporeans, has been proactive and systematically implemented processes to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus which has been classed as a ‘Pandemic’ by the World Health Organisation) on 12 March,” said Alex Tang, Regional Manager Asia at IBIA.

He notes the MPA has already issued port circulars focusing on precautionary measures to minimise the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore, while Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has also produced a guide on Business Continuity Plan on COVID- 19.

“Singapore bunkering stakeholders have largely taken guidance of the earlier MPA and ESG recommendations and updated their own company policy on fighting against the COVID-19 cases over the past two months,” he notes.

“We can mitigate the risk and continue to uphold the supply of Singapore bunkering process with smooth, integrity, confidence and high quality for all Singapore Bunker stakeholders.”

“We have been closely monitoring the outbreak of the coronavirus, including advice from the World Health Organization, and have also implemented precautions for the IBIA training course which we conduct worldwide.

“As a corporate and socially responsible international association, the safety and wellbeing of our delegates, trainers, partners, colleagues and vendors is our priority and commitment.”

Tang shared with Manifold Times the internal company process of a bunker surveying company and also corporate member of IBIA which their employees follow on the field:

  • Take temperature 1 hour before depart base
  • Arrive pier with mask on
  • Sanitized hand when depart pier
  • Sanitized hand once on board
  • Check with highest rank available if any crew is not feeling well and last port of call
  • If need be, calculation to be done in the open air. Avoid entering accommodation.

Others

The head of a bunker trading firm says the company started its BCP operations in the middle of February by splitting its team into two, where one works from office and the other from home.

“We experienced limitations working from home as staff working away from the office did not have access to documents; this resulted in basically everyone doubling up their responsibilities in the office to help out so efficiency-wise there were some issues,” he said.

“Client-wise, we try not to find other means of communication and prefer not to meet people in general unless necessary. We encourage social discipline, and recommend staff not to visit or meet individuals who have been to infected areas.

“We expect to continue BCP operations for the long term.”

 

Notice:
*Synergy Asia Bunkering has started a non-profit operation to offer free face masks and hand sanitising sprays to people in need. The firm is also open to working with corporations to jointly present these items to a charity. Interested parties are able to contact Jeremy Long (+65) 92206508 / [email protected] for more details.

 

 

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 18 March, 2020

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Bunker Fuel

Singapore: Bunker fuel sales down by 9.1% on year in January 2025

4.46 million mt of various marine fuel grades were delivered at the world’s largest bunkering port in January, a drop from 4.91 million mt recorded during the similar month in 2024, according to MPA data.

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Singapore: Bunker fuel sales down by 9.1% on year in January 2025

Sales of marine fuel at Singapore port decreased by 9.1% on year in January 2025, according to Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) data.

In total, 4.46 million metric tonnes (mt) (exact 4,461,710 mt) of various marine fuel grades were delivered at the world’s largest bunkering port in January, a drop from 4.91 million mt (4,906,100 mt) recorded during the similar month in 2024.

Deliveries of marine fuel oil, low sulphur fuel oil, ultra low sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in January (against on year) recorded respectively 1.66 million mt (zero from 1.66 million mt), 2.43 million mt (-15% from 2.86 million mt), 900 (+100% from zero), 3,100 mt (-77% from 13,500 mt) and zero (from zero).

Singapore: Bunker fuel sales down by 9.1% on year in January 2025

Bio-blended variants of marine fuel oil, low sulphur fuel oil, ultra low sulphur fuel oil, marine gas oil and marine diesel oil in January (against on year) recorded respectively 16,000 (+100% from zero), 92,000 mt (+103% from 45,300 mt), zero (from zero), zero (from zero) and zero (from zero).

LNG and methanol sales were posted respectively at 6,600 mt (-36.5% from 10,400) and zero (from zero).

A complete series of articles on Singapore bunker volumes by Manifold Times in 2024 can be found below:

Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales down by 5.2% on year in December 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales gain by 4.6% on year in November 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales gain by 10.8% on year in October 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales continue to increase by 2.8% on year in September 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales increase by 7.2% on year in August 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales up by 3.3% on year in July 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales gain 8.7% in June 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales increase by 6.7% in May 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales down by 0.6% on year in April 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales increase by 6.4% on year in March 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales up by 18.8% on year in February 2024
Related: Singapore: Bunker fuel sales up by 12.1% on year in January 2024

 

Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 14 February, 2025

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Bunker Fuel

Singapore-based Straits Bio-LNG aims to deliver 250,000 mt of bio-LNG bunker fuel per year

Firm is currently in advanced stage of testing breaking down Empty Fruit Bunch through an established biological process with high enzyme concentration in its R&D facility in Malaysia to produce bio-LNG.

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Singapore-based Straits Bio-LNG aims to deliver 250,000 mt of bio-LNG bunker fuel per year

Straits Bio-LNG, a privately owned supplier of bio-LNG, is aiming to deliver 250,000 metric tonnes (mt) of bio-LNG per year in Singapore, according to SEA-LNG on Thursday (13 February).

The Singapore-based company, led by SK Tan as CEO, is doing so in response to the growing demand for LNG. LNG bunkering volumes have grown significantly in key bunkering hubs as more LNG-fuelled vessels have entered into operation. 

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) saw a dramatic four-fold increase in 2024 to almost 340,000 mt, SEA-LNG said in a statement announcing Straits Bio-LNG joining the coalition. 

Headquartered in Singapore, the company boasts a growing team led by SK Tan as CEO.  

Yiyong He, Director at Straits Bio-LNG, said: “We’re firmly convinced in the viability of the LNG pathway to decarbonise the shipping industry. With its very low carbon intensity and improving commerciality, liquified biomethane will be a critical piece of the puzzle for decarbonising the sector.”

“By joining SEA-LNG, we’re proud to be part of a collection of first movers making real strides to make the LNG pathway a tangible reality today.”

Straits Bio-LNG aims to reach its bio-LNG supply goal by using pioneering methods. It is currently in the advanced stage of testing breaking down Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) through an established biological process with high enzyme concentration in its R&D facility in Malaysia. 

Both Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) and EFB are sustainable biomass resources listed in the “List of Materials Eligible for ISCC EU Certification” and are therefore compliant with the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

Peter Keller, chairman of SEA-LNG, added: “The Port of Singapore is the largest global bunkering hub. As seen in our View from the Bridge report, 2024 saw record growth in LNG and liquified biomethane bunkering, but we need more fuel to meet upcoming demand.”

“The use of liquefied biomethane as a marine fuel can reduce GHG emissions by up to 80% compared to marine diesel on a full well-to-wake basis. When produced from the anaerobic digestion of waste materials, such as manure, POME or EFB, methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere is captured, resulting in negative emissions of up to -190% compared with diesel."

An independent study by the Maritime Energy and Sustainable Development Centre of Excellence at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore found that pure bio-LNG could cover up to 13% of the total energy demand for shipping fuels in 2050, rising to 63% for a 20% blending ratio. 

SEA-LNG added MPA has firmly established itself as a leader in the LNG pathway, with suppliers such as Straits Bio-LNG reinforcing this position. 

Recently, the port launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) to explore scalable solutions for sea-based LNG reloading to complement the existing onshore LNG bunkering storage and jetty capacities and the supply of e/bio-methane as marine fuel in the Port of Singapore.

“Straits Bio-LNG will play a critical role in furthering the expansion of liquified biomethane at scale to meet the demand and continuing to showcase the LNG pathway as a practical and realistic solution for shipowners to decarbonise their operations, starting today,” it said. 

Related: Singapore: MPA launches EOI to expand LNG bunkering services amid growing demand

 

Photo credit: Straits Bio-LNG
Published: 14 February, 2025

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Winding up

Singapore: Final meetings scheduled for Gagarmayang Maritime and related companies

Other companies involved are Pramoni Maritime Pte Ltd, Wulansari Maritime Pte Ltd, Anjasmoro Maritime Pte Ltd and Indradi Maritime Pte Ltd.

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The final meetings of members of Gagarmayang Maritime Pte Ltd and related companies, has been scheduled to take place on 12 March, according to the company’s liquidators on a notice posted on Wednesday (12 February) on the Government Gazette.

The other companies involved in the matter are Pramoni Maritime Pte Ltd, Wulansari Maritime Pte Ltd, Anjasmoro Maritime Pte Ltd and Indradi Maritime Pte Ltd.

The meetings will be held by way of electronic means at 11am for the purpose of having an account laid before the members showing the manner in which the winding up has been conducted and the property of the company disposed of and of hearing any explanation that may be given by the liquidators.

The details of the liquidators are as follows:

Hamish Alexander Christie
c/o H.A. Christie & Co
20 Collyer Quay, #11-05
Singapore 049319

Related: Singapore: Wulansari Maritime Pte Ltd and related companies to be wound up voluntarily
Related: Creditors meeting for Anjasmoro Maritime and affiliated sister firms to be held in Oct

 

Photo credit: Benjamin-child
Published: 14 February, 2025

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