MPA Singapore, Port of Rotterdam establish world-longest green corridor

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Port of

shipping.

The port authorities will work with the Global Centre for Maritime

Decarbonisation and the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero-Carbon Shipping

as action partners, as well as other industry partners across the supply chain,

including bp, CMA CGM, Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), Maersk,

MSC, Ocean Network Express, PSA International, and Shell amongst others.

The cross-industry partnerships will enable the Green and Digital Corridor

project to raise investment confidence, attract green financing, and kickstart

joint bunkering pilots and trials for digitalisation and the use of low- and

zero carbon fuels along the route.

Singapore and Rotterdam are among the largest bunkering ports in the world,

making them key links on the Asian-European shipping lanes.

While international shipping currently uses largely marine gas oil (MGO)

and low-sulphur fuel oil, sustainable alternatives such as biofuels, including

biogases, are increasingly being made available.

Other alternatives such as synthetic methane, hydrogen, and hydrogen-based

fuels including ammonia and methanol are in various stages of R&D for future

trials and deployment.

Each alternative fuel has its own challenges relating to costs,

availability, safety, and restrictions in range due to lower energy density

compared to fossil fuels.

To tackle these challenges, the two port authorities agreed to bring

together a broad coalition of shippers, fuel suppliers and other companies to

collectively work on potential solutions.

Beyond alternative fuels, the MoU also aims to optimise maritime

efficiency, safety, and the transparent flow of goods by creating a digital

trade lane where relevant data, electronic documentation and standards are

shared. This will facilitate the seamless movement of vessels and cargo, and

optimise just-in-time arrival of vessels from port to port.

Signed by Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, and Allard Castelein, CEO

of the Port of Rotterdam Authority at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on

the sidelines of the biennial World Cities Summit, the MoU will bring together

stakeholders across the supply chain to realise the first sustainable vessels

sailing on the route by 2027.

The signing was witnessed by S Iswaran, Minister for Transport and

Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, Singapore, and Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of

Rotterdam.

S Iswaran, Minister for Transport and Minister-in-Charge of Trade

Relations, Singapore, said: “Decarbonising shipping is an urgent climate action

priority, which requires the collective efforts of the entire maritime sector.

As a trusted global maritime hub, Singapore contributes actively to IMO’s

efforts to make international shipping more sustainable, and global supply

chains more resilient.”

Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: “Shipping

is among the most important industries to decarbonise, owing to its large

international reach and volume, which continues to grow.

“By bringing together parties across the supply chain along one of the

world’s biggest trade lanes, we can enable carriers to switch to zero-carbon

fuels and speed up the transition to more sustainable shipping”.

Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, said: “This MoU further strengthens

the strong partnership between Singapore and Rotterdam. It reaffirms Singapore’s

commitment towards facilitating a multi-fuel bunkering transition as part of the

Maritime Singapore Decarbonisation Blueprint 2050, and accelerates our

digitalisation efforts to optimise maritime efficiency and improve supply chain

resilience.”

In July Shell took its final investment decision to build Europe’s largest

green hydrogen plant on Maasvlakte 2 at the Port of Rotterdam.