Idan Ofer's Eastern Pacific Shipping welcomed Singapore politicians to its office to spread the word about its decarbonisation efforts.
The country's senior minister of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport, Chee Hong Tat, was accompanied by the chief executive of the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), Quah Ley Hoon, as well as other senior MPA and transport ministry officials on Monday.
The delegation learned about EPS’ 30-year history in Singapore, the shipowner's moves to cut emissions, its commitment to technology and dedication to seafarer well-being.
The group also witnessed a virtual-reality LNG bunkering demonstration from Kanda, one of the start-up companies backed by EPS' technology acceleration programme.
Quah then presented EPS chief executive Cyril Ducau with a letter of commendation from the MPA’s International Safety@Sea Awards 2020.
This recognised the shipowner's contributions to safety and its life at sea programme.
Pioneering work
EPS has been a pioneer of LNG-fuelled vessels.
Last month, energy major Shell was selected by Australian mining giant BHP to supply LNG as bunkers for five dual-fuelled 209,000-dwt bulkers that will transport iron ore from Australia to China, TradeWinds reported.
BHP will be trading the five newcastlemaxes, which it chartered from EPS for five years, from the first half of 2022.
Industry players said Shell had been competing with French major Total, Chinese privately-owned gas distributor ENN Energy and Singapore’s Pavilion Energy for the contract.
