Singapore prepares for first-ever methanol bunkering

Port of Singapore is set to conduct its first-ever ship-to-ship (STS) methanol bunkering operation this week.

PHOTO: Cargo terminal at Port of Singapore. Getty Images

MT Agility, a tanker operated by Singapore-based Hong Lam Marine, will bunker A.P. Moller - Maersk's methanol-fuelled vessel with biomethanol in the port of Singapore.

The biomethanol will be supplied by Dutch methanol supplier OCI Hyfuels.

“While methanol loading/unloading ops [operations] are not new to S'pore [Singapore], methanol is new as a maritime fuel,” said Teo Eng Dih, chief executive of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

Preparations for STS methanol bunkering involved monitoring of different parameters which covers “arrival of the bunker vessel to receiving vessel, connection and piping, bunkering operation, disconnection and purging, departure of vessels and crew and seafarer competency,” he added.

The mixture of water and methanol will cause a fire since methanol is fully soluble in water. In order to prevent fires, nitrogen is used to clean methanol fuel pipes in a process called purging.

The port authority has also reviewed vessel design, drones and weather & tide forecasting tools to support the bunkering operation.

Maersk's 2,100 TEU feeder vessel is sailing on its maiden voyage from the South Korean Port of Ulsan to the Danish Port of Copenhagen. On the way, OCI Hyfuels will refuel it with biomethanol at the ports of Singapore and Rotterdam, and also in Egypt.

By Konica Bhatt

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