The first LNG bunker vessel for Singapore is due to start operations by the end of this year.
The 7,500-cbm newbuilding FueLNG Bellina, which is being constructed at Keppel Nantong Shipyard in China, was named in a virtual ceremony attended by Singapore’s senior minister of state for transport and foreign affairs, Chee Hong Tat.
The vessel is owned by FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) and Shell Eastern Petroleum.
When operational, the vessel’s first contracts will be to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering to the Shell-chartered tankers and for one of Hapag Lloyd’s container vessels, Keppel said.
The vessel, which has a filling rate range of 100-1,000-cbm of LNG per hour, will enable FueLNG to be the first to provide regular ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services within the Singapore port, Keppel said.
LNG bunkers will also be available from FueLNG's 3,500-cbm facility which will be built by Keppel O&M in its yard on what the company has dubbed its Floating Living Lab.
Shell will supply the LNG to the FLL which will also be able to provide volumes to FueLNG Bellina.
Speaking at the naming ceremony Minister Chee said: "This occasion marks an important milestone in Singapore’s journey to achieve the IMO 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target.
"It is our next step towards regular ship-to-ship LNG bunkering activities in Singapore. As we progress towards a low-carbon future, we will intensify our efforts to develop the Port of Singapore into a global LNG bunkering hub."
Hapag-Lloyd's senior director of global fuel purchasing Jan Christensen said: “We are looking to reduce our carbon emissions and LNG propulsion in our ships is one of the key contributors. Singapore is a significant port of call.”
FueLNG chairman and Keppel O&M chief executive Chris Ong said: “Building Singapore’s first LNG bunkering vessel and having a dedicated bunkering facility demonstrate our commitment to global customers that LNG as a marine fuel will be readily available in Singapore.
Ong said the LNGBV would be able to provide ship-to-ship bunkering for larger vessels such as containerships and LNG for smaller vessels such as harbour crafts at the FLL in Keppel O&M’s shipyard.
Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has committed to increasing the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel.
FueLNG conducted Singapore’s first commercial LNG bunkering operation in 2017 and has since completed more than 250 truck-to-ship bunkering operations.
A second larger, 12,000-cbm LNGBV, controlled by Total's bunkering arm, Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions, and local gas supplier Pavilion Energy is due to go into operation in Singapore in mid-2021.
