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Singapore sales of alternative fuels over 1m tonnes in 2024Singapore sales of alternative fuels over 1m tonnes in 2024

Sales of alternative fuels in the world’s largest bunkering port surpassed 1 million tonnes last year, but still only accounted for little more than 2% of volumes sold.

Marcus Hand, Editor

January 15, 2025

2 Min Read
Murali Pillai, Singapore Minister of State for Law and Transport
Murali Pillai, Singapore Minister of State for Law and TransportCredit: SMF

Speaking at the Singapore Maritime Foundation’s (SMF) New Year Conversations event on Wednesday Murali Pillai, Minister of State for Law and Transport, revealed the 2024 performance figures for one of the world’s largest ports.

“We registered strong growth to achieve record highs, despite geopolitical conflicts and strained global supply chains,” the Minister commented.

Singapore retained its position as the world’s largest container transhipment hub handling 41.2 million teu last year compared to 39.01 million teu in 2023.

As Singapore continues to build up its new mega container terminal Tuas Port some 11 berths are now operation, and seven more berths are expected to be operational by 2027.

The Lion City also remains firmly the world’s largest bunkering port with 54.92 million tonnes of marine fuels sold last year a growth of 6% over 2023. The was attributed in part to the rerouting of ships from the Red Sea to transiting via the Cape of Good Hope between Asia and Europe resulting in long voyages and therefore increased fuel requirements.

As decarbonisation looks set to result in a multi-fuel future Singapore has also been seeing growth in the sale of alternative fuels. Sales of alternative fuels crossed the 1 million tonnes mark for the first time in 2024 with 0.88 million tonnes of biofuels blends and 0.46 million tonnes of LNG loaded onto vessels.

Related:Equatorial orders LNG bunkering vessel from CIMC Enric

“Bunkering of methanol is now available commercially and we conducted the world’s first use of ammonia in combination with diesel as a marine fuel in the Port of Singapore,” the Minister noted.

There were 1,626 tonnes of methanol bunkered in the port last year.

The country is moving ahead with a number of initiatives around alternative fuels and their take-up. In April last year the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) together with 51 industry partners established the Maritime Energy Training Facility (METF) to equip maritime workers with skills to safely handle alternative fuels such as methanol and ammonia.

Since the establishment of the METF some 430 maritime personnel have completed training, and Singapore is aiming to have trained 10,000 workers in handling alternative fuels by the 2030s.

Combining both decarbonisation and digitalisation Singapore is working on a growing number of green and digital shipping corridors (GDSCs) with other nations and regional authorities. “We established new GDSCs with Australia and Shandong, China in 2024, and are working to establish more partnerships in 2025,” Pillai said.

Related:Singapore port breaks 40 million teu barrier in 2024

More importantly progress is being made on existing corridors. The Singapore-Rotterdam GDSC has successfully piloted the bunkering of mass-balanced liquefied bio-methane.

In other key performance figures annual vessel arrival tonnage in the port of Singapore increased 0.6% in 2024 to a record 3.11 billion gt.  Bulkers, container ships and tankers comprised over 90% of this figure.

Meanwhile tonnage on the Singapore Registry of Ships (SRS) has exceed 100 million gt for the first time and reached 108 million gt.

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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