FueLNG, the joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) and Shell Eastern Petroleum, completed Singapore’s first bunkering of a liquified natural gas-fuelled oil tanker on May 7.
The bunkering operation, done in collaboration with the Maritime and Porth Authority of Singapore (MPA), saw the gas-up and cool-down operation for the oil tanker Pacific Emerald, including the transfer of 3,000 cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) from FueLNG Bellina.
Pacific Emerald is the first of 10 newbuild Aframax tankers chartered by Shell Tankers Singapore from Sinokor Petrochemical Co.
SEE:Keppel Corporation records 'slightly higher' net profit and stable revenue of $1.89 bil in 1Q business update
Quah Ley Hoon, chief executive of MPA, says that the operation marks another milestone in Singapore’s journey as an LNG bunkering hub. “We see increased interest in LNG-fuelled vessels with more of such new vessels on order across various ship types,” she says.
“There is strong demand for LNG bunkering in Singapore and FueLNG, as a pioneer in this sector, is well-equipped with the experience and technical expertise to provide reliable bunkering solutions for customers,” says Chris Ong, chairman of FueLNG and CEO of Keppel O&M.
Meanwhile, Tahir Faruqui, director of FueLNG and head of Shell Downstream LNG, points out that LNG is the lowest emission fuel available at scale in the shipping sector today and has a key role in its decarbonisation journey.
The bunkering operation follows the completion of Asia’s first ship-to-containership LNG bunkering operation by FueLNG in March.
FueLNG aims to provide a total of about 30 to 50 ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations in 2021. Besides the Aframax tankers, FueLNG has also lined up bunkering operations for containerships, chemical oil tankers, and bulk carriers.
As at 3.19pm, shares in Keppel Corporation are up 5 cents 0.94% higher at $5.35.
