Singapore News

How Refiners Plan to Grapple With Fuel Oil Output After 2020

High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year, ships will have to use marine fuel…

Singapore Funds Green Marine Fuel Program

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has allocated about USD 3.64 million under the Green Energy Programme to support the development and use of cleaner alternative marine fuels such as biofuels and methanol. Senior Minister of State, Dr Lam Pin Min announced initiatives by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that companies can use the fund in their research and development in alternative fuels to meet future greenhouse gas emissions regulations.He said…

PIL, IBM to Implement Electronic Bill of Lading

Singapore’s containership operator Pacific International Lines (PIL) collaborates with IBM Singapore in another blockchain trial to design and create an electronic bill of lading which will significantly enhance the documentation process in supply chain management.The PIL-IBM collaboration was supported by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Singapore Shipping Association, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Singapore Customs (National Trade Platform), and Bank of China…

Maersk Leases Singapore Oil Storage Ahead of IMO 2020

Maersk Oil Trading has leased oil storage space in Singapore, signalling a push by one of the world's biggest ship fuel buyers into the Asian bunkering hub ahead of changes to global fuel standards from 2020, trade sources said.Maersk Oil has taken storage at the Tankstore oil terminal in Singapore, a spokesman for parent A.P. Moller-Maersk told Reuters, without giving further details.The firm has leased 120,000 cubic meters of space for fuel oil for six months, said three trade sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Stena Bulk Forms Chemical Tanker JV with Bay Crest Management

Golden-Agri Stena, a joint venture between Sweden based tanker shipping company Stena Bulk and Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources, has started a new joint venture with Japan's Bay Crest Management for the the operation and commercial management of chemical tankers.The new joint venture, GSB Tankers, will commence operation on January 1, 2019, managing 18 chemical tankers to start, with the aim of managing 30 vessels within the next two years.The joint venture will operate out of the existing premises of Golden-Agri Stena.

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Holds Ferry Emergency Drill

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) conducted a ferry emergency exercise  to test the readiness of various agencies in responding to ferry mishaps in the Port of Singapore.More than 100 personnel from ten organisations (Annex) took part in the exercise at sea near Kukor Buoy. The exercise scenario involved the evacuation of 72 passengers on-board a domestic ferry after her grounding on a large underwater object.Passengers were then evacuated onto life rafts and a rescue ferry alongside the grounded vessel.

Oil Could Rise to $100 by 2019

Oil prices could rise towards $100 per barrel towards the end of the year or by early 2019 as sanctions against Iran bite, commodity merchants Trafigura and Mercuria said on Monday at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.Almost 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude could be taken out of the market as a result of the U.S. sanctions against Iran by the end of the fourth quarter this year, said Daniel Jaeggi, president of commodity merchant Mercuria Energy Trading…

OOCL Bags 2018 Singapore Environmental Achievement Award

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has received the 2018 Singapore Environmental Achievement Award (Regional) at a ceremony held by the Singapore Environment Council’s (SEC) recently.The SEAA (Regional) Award category recognizes local or international companies and organizations with outstanding environmental performance in Asia, and this year, the regional scope has been expanded to welcome companies from Greater China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN countries to take part in the awards scheme.In the review and evaluation process…

Trafigura Leases 35 Crude Oil and Product Tankers

Commodity trader Trafigura had leased 35 newly built crude oil and oil product tankers from an undisclosed Asian financial partner with the vessels expected to be delivered late this week and all through 2019, the company said."Until 2020, the vessels will run on regular fuel, and from then onwards, whenever allowed (some ports do not allow usage of open loop scrubber), they will burn high sulphur fuel oil, which is possible due to the scrubber onboard each vessel," a company spokesman told Reuters on Friday.The tankers…

Harley to Lead Britannia's Greek Office

London based P&I club Britannia said it has finalized plans to open its Greek office in Piraeus as part of an ongoing expansion of the club’s regional hub network.The Greek office will be headed by David Harley who recently returned to the London office having established and worked for over five years as head of Britannia, Hong Kong. Harley will be assisted by newly appointed Konstantinos Samaritis, who joins from a Greek shipowner, having previously worked for both Standard and Skuld Clubs’ Greek operations.

Singapore's Port Authority Investing in LNG Bunkering

Singapore's port authority has so far invested S$26 million ($19 million) into developing cleaner-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel at the city-state, the world's largest marine refueling hub, an executive at the port authority said."We've been working to develop LNG-bunkering in Singapore since about late-2015," said Alan Lim, deputy director at the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore, told Reuters at the sidelines of the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition on Tuesday.The bulk of the investments, totaling about S$18 million, were directed

No Delays to Implementing 2020 Sulphur Cap -IMO Official

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will not delay implementing a reduction in the amount of sulphur in marine fuel in 2020, an IMO official said on Tuesday."I can categorically say there will not be a delay," said Edmund Hughes, the head of air pollution and energy efficiency at the IMO, during the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.IMO, the United Nations' shipping agency, will require that vessels start in 2020 using fuel oil with 0.5 percent sulphur…

McLoughlin Joins North P&I Underwriting Team

Global marine insurer provider North P&I Club has further strengthened its underwriting team with the appointment of a new U.K. based underwriter combined with some operational changes to a number of senior underwriting roles.Tom McLoughlin joined the team as an Underwriter last week, bringing with him a range of marine experience from his former roles with insurance brokers Marsh in London, and a significant tanker management company in Athens. Initially McLoughlin will work across all of the regional teams as he settles into his new role with the Club.Earlier in the year…

Singapore Marine Fuel Sales Declining

Sales of marine fuels in Singapore fell to a two-month low in August as fewer ships called for refueling at the world's largest bunkering hub, officialdata showed on Thursday.Marine fuel sales last month declined 9.2 percent from a year earlier and 1.8 percent from a month ago to 3.963 million metric tons, data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.The decline in marine refueling activity, also known as bunkering, was largely anticipated, four trade sources said…

Students Aim to Improve Stevedore Working Conditions

A Finland-Singapore Maritime Innovation camp was held September 23 to 28 in Singapore, where corporate partners MacGregor and PSA Corporation asked student to find a way to reduce the stress level of stevedores while working on board.The students from Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku, National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore worked on the challenge during an intensive one-week camp, with the team presentations and results announced during the closing gala.

Synergy Group Launches iCALL Help Line

Synergy Group has launched a new counselling service aimed at improving mental health support for sea- and shore-based maritime personnel.iCALL is a free psychological helpline for the worldwide maritime community available 24/7 in nine different languages via phone, email and the chat-based nULTA App.“Numerous studies into the psychological health of seafarers have shown that large numbers of seafarers suffer from obvious manifestations of impaired psychological well being such as social isolation and depression…

Exxon Mobil Eyes Major Investment at Singapore Refinery

Exxon Mobil Corp is considering a multi-billion dollar investment at its Singapore refinery, the company's largest, ahead of new global shipping fuel regulations starting in 2020, a senior executive said on Wednesday."We are currently assessing a multi-billion project in our integrated manufacturing facility here in Singapore," Matt Bergeron, vice president of Asia Pacific Fuels Business at Exxon, said at a bunkering conference."Should the project proceed, we plan to implement…

Singapore Bunkering Hub Ready for IMO 2020

Singapore authorities are taking measures to ensure the availability of low-sulphur marine fuels ahead of upcoming emissions regulations in 2020, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health Lam Pin Min said on Wednesday."(The) MPA is working closely with the industry to ensure that Singapore is ready to supply low-sulphur compliant fuels ahead of 1 January, 2020," said Lam at the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will make available a list of licensed bunker suppliers of low-sulphur fuels by mid-2019

ABS to Class Singapore's First LNG Bunker Barge

Singapore’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge scheduled to begin construction in January 2019. The 7,500 cubic meter capacity barge will be owned and operated by a joint venture between Shell and Keppel Offshore & Marine, FueLNG Pte Ltd, who selected ABS to class the vessel.To help spur the project, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) recently granted up to $3 million to FueLNG Pte Ltd to build the barge. The vessel will be based in the Port of Singapore…

Singapore Looks to Tighten Controls in its Bunkers Supply Chain

Singapore authorities are looking to apply stricter control measures across the marine fuels sector supply chain, a spokeswoman for the government agency Enterprise Singapore said on Thursday, to boost transparency and accountability in a notoriously opaque industry.The Technical Committee for Bunkering has submitted a proposal to the national standards body, Enterprise Singapore, for a new standard on quantity, measurement and sampling requirements for transfer of bunker fuel from oil terminals to bunker tankers using mass flow metering, the spokeswoman said."This proposed standard complement

Samsung Heavy Industries Bags Shuttle Tanker Order from AET

South Korean shipbuilder Samsun Heavy Industries (SHI) revealed that it has won another 152,700 DWT suezmax-sized shuttle tanker from Singapore's AET.This is another order from the shipowner who ordered a quartet to SHI in May 2018. The price is not disclosed in detail but recorded a slight increase.SHI has been leading the shuttle tanker market since it built Korea's first shuttle tanker back in 1995. SHI including the latest order has won 59 out of 133 ordered globally, dominating the speacialized tanker market with 44% market share.SHI won all 14 shuttle tankers ordered in 2017 and 2018.

US Oil Exports to Asia May Slide Further

Rising shipping rates have increased the costs of shipping oil from the United States to Asia and may further the restrict the flow of U.S. oil to the region later this year, multiple trade and shipping sources said on Thursday.Freight rates for tankers that carry crude oil have soared globally, buoyed by peak seasonal demand, weather disruptions and higher bunker fuel costs, the sources said.The cost of chartering a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude from the U.S.

Singapore Exchange to Launch High-grade Iron Ore Derivatives

The Singapore Exchange said on Thursday that it will launch new high-grade iron ore derivatives in December, aiming to tap into a growing appetite for higher quality supplies of the steelmaking raw material.China's anti-pollution campaign has forced steelmakers in the world's top producer to shift to higher grade iron ore to curb emissions, in a boon for top supplier, Brazilian mining giant Vale.SGX said that the futures and swaps contracts will reference the Brazilian ore fines…

Port of New Orleans Handles Largest Containership to Date

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) welcomed its largest containership ever when the CMA CGM operated Pusan C, a 9,500 twenty-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) vessel, called on October 8 at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal operated by Ports America.“The deployment of larger vessels highlights our strong growth in container volumes and the success of the PEX 3 service connecting America’s heartland to global markets like Asia,” said Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans President and CEO.

Vecchiolla Takes the Helm at VT Systems

ST Engineering announced the appointment of Tom Vecchiolla as President & CEO (Designate) of its US Headquarters, VT Systems. He will take over as President & CEO from General (Ret.) John Coburn on 1 December 2018, who will relinquish his CEO position but remain as non-executive Chairman of VT Systems.Gen. Coburn has been at the helm VT Systems for 17 years since it was set up in 2001 to support the Group’s overseas expansion. Today, the US is the Group’s single largest market outside of Singapore…

BSM Singapore Relocates to Larger Office

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) has relocated to a new, larger Singapore office in the Republic’s Central Business District.The new premises now house Bernhard Schulte, the group’s ship owning arm, alongside with BSM, the third-party ship manager and MariApps, the Group’s digital solutions company.“BSM’s presence in Singapore has grown steadily in recent years and we believe that the new ‘Bernhard Schulte House’ will cater to the future growth and expansion of the group’s entities in Singapore…