Singapore’s first methanol bunkering operation was conducted yesterday where Maersk and Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd successfully did the world’s first ship-to-containership methanol bunkering operation of a Maersk’s container vessel at the Raffles Reserved Anchorage in Singapore, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement.
The Maersk’s container vessel, being the world’s first container vessel sailing on green methanol and on her maiden voyage towards Copenhagen for her naming ceremony, was successfully refuelled with approximately 300 metric tonnes of bio-methanol via Hong Lam Marine’s Singapore-registered tanker, MT Agility. The MT Agility had earlier taken bio-methanol stored at Vopak Terminals for this bunkering operation.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) states that in order to prepare 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).
This was needed to identify safety measures and clarify roles and responsibilities for a coordinated cross-agency response to a methanol incident at sea. Also, a 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.
