Singapore has gone out to the market seeking guidance on the potential costs of importing ammonia under long-term contracts by as early as 2026.
The Maritime & Port Authority (MPA) is inviting submissions of proposals that would allow it to “better understand and assess the extent to which insurance and transportation costs of ammonia into Singapore can be reduced and kept low”.
It hopes to “identify, compare and assess the available rates of freight and insurance costs for the transportation of ammonia from potential source countries into Singapore from 2026, so as to benefit from economies of scale”.
Under a request for information, Singapore has identified eight potential regions as sources of ammonia exports: India; China’s Bohai Sea; Bay of Exploits in eastern Canada; Chile; the Gulf of Oman; Queensland in eastern Australia; the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast; and the US Gulf Coast.
The MPA wants to find the costs of importing at least 100,000 tonnes per annum of ammonia into Singapore by the third quarter of 2026 and at least 300,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2027 for a minimum period of five years from one or more of these regions.
The authority said proposals will be assessed on the quality and strength of the participant’s technical and commercial proposals, freight and insurance costs quoted on a per-tonne of ammonia basis and its proven financial strength, experience and capability in transporting ammonia.
Participants must also ensure that all vessels employed on any contracts are Singapore-flagged before the first shipment.
Interested parties have until 17 May this year to submit proposals.
The MPA is reviewing proposals to develop an end-to-end solution to provide low or zero-carbon ammonia for bunkering on Jurong Island together with Singapore’s Energy Market Authority.
It plans to work with shortlisted consortiums on the pre-front-end engineering design to confirm the technical and economic feasibility of the project before selecting a lead developer with the government by early 2025.
The world’s first oceangoing ammonia-powered vessel, Fortescue’s 2,874-gt FFI Green Pioneer (built 2010), has successfully conducted its first fuel trial in Singapore over six weeks.
