- Malaysia’s Petronas is poised to provide LNG bunkering services starting 1 January 2020.
- The Southeast Asian LNG major player has ambitions to become a bunkering hub.
- In regard to IMO 2020 regulation, Petronas is collaborating with various ministries, authorities and industry players to co-develop the much-needed policies, guidelines and procedures for safe and effective bunkering operations.
Petronas will add to its current facility at Pengerang with another one in Melaka and will be able to facilitate LNG bunkering by January 1, 2020 when the global sulphur cap kicks in, reports Seatrade Maritime News.
Global bunkering hub
This move is put into force in support of the government’s ambition towards making Malaysia a bunkering hub, said vice president LNG marketing and trading Ahmad Adly Alias.
He is anticipating the LNG share of the global bunker market to increase up to 7% by 2030 from less than 3% today.
“We have embarked on an initiative to propel Malaysia as an LNG bunkering hub focusing among others, setting up the necessary infrastructure in Pengerang, Johor and Sungai Udang, Malacca,” Ahmad Adly was quoted saying.
Regasification terminal ameliorated
He shared that Petronas is in the midst of upgrading its regasification terminal in Sungai Udang to enable the facility to perform LNG reloads by the first quarter of 2020.
He added that the use of LNG as a marine fuel will contribute to emissions reduction, an issue that the IMO is constantly tackling.
IMO Global cap
The upcoming IMO regulation will require all ocean-going ships to burn bunker fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% from 1 January 2020, down from the current cap of 3.5%.
Safe and Effective bunkering
In response to stricter global environmental regulations, Petronas has started converting all its 22 LNG vessels to use compliant fuels.
The Malaysian oil refiner is also collaborating with various government ministries, authorities and industry players to co-develop policies, guidelines and procedures for safe and effective bunkering operations.
“Government support is critical as Malaysia moves forward to embrace the aspiration to the bunkering hub,” Ahmad Adly said.
“This can be manifested through provision of incentives or financial assistance to the industries as well as a conducive policy to accelerate the adoption of LNG as a cleaner marine fuel and stimulating sustainable growth,” he said.
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Source: Seatrade Maritime News
