Singapore reports that it is now ready for methanol bunkering for container vessels at Tuas port after it has completed the first simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operation on May 27.
A X-Press Feeder container vessel on her maiden voyage from Asia to Europe was refuelled with almost 300 metric tonnes (MT) of bio-methanol.
The fuel was provided by MPA-licensed bunker supplier Global Energy Trading (GET), using MT Kara, a dedicated IMO type II chemical bunker tanker classified by Bureau Veritas and operated by Stellar Shipmanagement Services.
The methanol fuel was supplied simultaneously while the container vessel was completing container moves.
The cargo operation was carried out with the use of PSA Singapore’s double trolley quay cranes and automated guided vehicles at Tuas port.
The simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operation (SIMOPS) was completed in four hours.
As it is now reported, with these operations the port of Singapore is ready for commercial scale operations for shore-to-ship, ship-to-ship, and SIMOPS for methanol, and the same methodology is being followed for other new maritime fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.
The SIMOPS was conducted at the new Tuas port with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), together with various government agencies and local research institutions.
The use of the mass flow metering system for methanol, together with the use of digital bunkering, was also trialled during the SIMOPS.
This follows the inaugural ship-to-containership methanol bunkering for the Laura Maersk in July 2023, and the ship-to-ship methanol bunkering of close to 1,340 metric tonnes of blended methanol for the Stena Prosperous on 24 May 2024.
The ISCC-certified bio-methanol used for the SIMOPS was produced by green methanol producer OCI Global and supplied via GET.
The fuel was lifted at Vopak Penjuru Terminal, in Singapore, which is a ISCC-certified storage facility for biofuels and methanol.
