IN 2025, Singapore’s port will be the world’s first to fully implement digital bunkering in a move away from physical documents, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor announced on Wednesday (Oct 9). Bunkering, or the supplying of fuel to ships, usually requires parties – including the bunker supplier, ship owner, and authorities – to exchange physical documents. But from Apr 1 next year, all bunker suppliers in Singapore will have to provide digital bunkering services and issue electronic bunker delivery notes (e-BDNs) as the default. This was among several maritime industry announcements on Thursday, including the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, a regulatory change that helps companies save costs, and updates on the adoptions of cleaner fuels and technologies, reports Business Times.
Bunkering up
After its first pilot e-BDN transaction in 2021, Singapore began a digital bunkering scheme in November 2023.
In addition to improving efficiency, digital bunkering will reduce processing time and errors, improve accountability and compliance, and make it easier to detect fraud.
MPA will set up a centralized e-BDN record verification facility, where stakeholders can verify e-BDNs against information transmitted to the organization.
AI apps, cost savings
On Jan 1, 2025, MPA will also launch two AI-driven applications to improve the speed and accuracy of ship certificate renewals for Singapore-registered vessels.
DocuMind reads information from different document formats, while DocuMatch verifies data against internal databases and recommends application approvals.
These applications are expected to speed up certificate processing times for most transactions to within a few minutes, from the current duration of up to three days.
MPA intends to apply AI-powered tools to other areas of the industry in 2025.
Separately, to reduce costs for the industry, MPA will reduce verification requirements for mass flow meters, which measure liquid volumes during bunkering operations.
From April 2025, these meters will need to be checked once a year, down from twice previously.
The move is in line with updated standards and was taken after “careful study”, said the authority. It is expected to save the industry around S$300,000 a year.
Cleaner fuels and tech adoption continue.
MPA also gave updates on green fuel efforts.
In July, two consortiums were shortlisted to propose an ammonia bunkering project on Jurong Island. In addition to three earlier-selected proposals from Itochu, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, and Sumitomo, another two have now been accepted – from Mitsui & Co and Fortescue-Equatorial Marine Fuels.
Out of the two consortiums, the chosen developer will be selected in the first quarter of 2025.
The project includes a power plant that will generate 55 to 65 megawatts of electricity from imported low or zero-carbon ammonia, and ammonia bunkering at a capacity of at least 100,000 tonnes a year. MPA is also committing another S$50 million to the updated Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI), which has been extended to 2030.
MSGI encourages the adoption of cleaner, lower-emissions technologies through various initiatives such as discounts for cleaner vessels, funding for Port of Singapore decarbonization projects, and the development and commercialization of new technologies.
It was launched in 2011 and last had a five-year extension to the end of 2024.
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Source: The Business Times
