Singapore, Tianjin pen green and digital corridor agreement
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Tianjin
Municipal Transportation Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to establish the Singapore – Tianjin Green and Digital Shipping Corridor.
Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive, MPA, and Wang Zhinan, Director General,
Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission, signed the MoU on 6 December
2023.
The agreement marks the first Green and Digital Shipping Corridor
established between Singapore and China to support the decarbonisation,
digitalisation, and growth of the maritime industry between Singapore and the
Bohai Region.
The Singapore – Tianjin Green and Digital Shipping Corridor will serve as a
testbed for both countries to pilot and trial digital solutions, alternative
fuels, and technologies, and facilitate talent development to support the
decarbonisation and digitalisation of shipping, reported the MPA.
Singapore and Tianjin will work with the research community, the institutes
of higher learning, and industry stakeholders such as shipping lines, port
operators, shipbuilders, classification societies, and bunker suppliers to
enable more efficient port clearance. This will be achieved through digital
exchanges.
Moreover, the organisations will work to encourage the offtake of zero or
near-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission fuels and adoption of new fuel
technologies.
In October 2023, the MPA issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) requesting
financial institutions to submit solutions to expedite the adoption of electric
harbour crafts.
More recently, the port authority together with the Ports of Los Angeles
and Long Beach announced a Partnership Strategy for a green and digital maritime
corridor across the Pacific Ocean.
