Maersk and Hong Lam Marine have successfully conducted the first ship-to-containership methanol bunkering operation of a Maersk container vessel at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage in Singapore, with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), government agencies and research institutes.
This is also Singapore’s first methanol bunkering operation. The Maersk container vessel – the world’s first container vessel sailing on green methanol – was successfully refuelled with about 300t of bio-methanol via Hong Lam Marine’s Singapore-registered tanker, MT Agility, for its onward passage to Copenhagen. MT Agility had earlier taken bio-methanol stored at Vopak Terminals.
In preparation for the methanol bunkering operation in Singapore, MPA worked with over 28 agencies, partners and institutes to organise table-top exercises (TTX) and workshops, before carrying out a Ground Deployment Exercise (GDX). A customised methanol firefighting programme was conducted by the Co-operative of SCDF Employees Ltd (COSEM) for MPA staff and Hong Lam Marine crew members as part of the preparations for the bunkering operation. As part of the risk and environmental impact assessment for the methanol bunkering operation, MPA reviewed methanol-related incidents globally and worked with the Meteorological Service of Singapore to provide advance lightning risk warning if required.
During the methanol bunkering operation, researchers from the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore flew drones equipped with a methanol detector with plume modelling capabilities and infrared camera from MPA’s patrol craft MPA Guardian to augment the detection of potential methanol leaks into the atmosphere and methanol flames in an event of an accidental leak.
A Technical Reference (TR) for methanol bunkering is being developed by MPA in consultation with the Standards Development Organisation at Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SDO@SCIC). The TR will cover the refuelling requirements, operational and safety requirements for delivery of methanol from a bunker tanker to receiving vessels, crew training and competency. Aside from the development of the Technical Reference, MPA will continue to develop other operational and safety protocols, licensing requirements, training of seafarers and professionals, and study infrastructure needs such as terminal facilities and methanol carrying bunker tankers, to fully operationalise methanol bunkering. Learnings from the bunkering operation will be presented to partners and international bodies such as IMO to support the safe adoption of methanol as a marine fuel.
Teo Eng Dih, CEO MPA, said: “The success of the methanol bunkering operation is a result of nearly a year’s preparations with various government agencies, research institutes, international collaborators, and industry to develop rigorous safety procedures through in-depth operational and risk assessments, modelling, and validation. This operation will help inform the development of the various standards, including the Technical Reference for methanol bunkering operations in Singapore, and guide our approach for future pilots and trials of new marine fuels. We thank A.P. Moller-Maersk, Hong Lam Marine, American Bureau of Shipping, Mitsui & Co., OCI Global, Stellar Shipmanagement and Vopak for their joint efforts with Singapore-based agencies in operationalising methanol bunkering capability and we welcome partners to work with us to accelerate maritime decarbonisation.”
Morten Bo Christensen, Head of Energy Transition, A.P. Moller–Maersk, said: “A.P. Moller-Maersk is excited to collaborate with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Mitsui & Co., American Bureau of Shipping and Hong Lam Marine on the maiden voyage of the world’s first container vessel sailing on green methanol. This journey is an important step in our efforts to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, as it will allow us to gain the necessary operational experience to operate the new engines and the fuel provided by OCI Global ahead of the arrival of our larger methanol-enabled vessels in the coming years.”
