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BW, EPS and ONE among partners in $90m Singapore decarbonisation centre

Six major shipowners and industry players are backing a new SGD120m ($90m) Maritime Decarbonisation Centre in Singapore.

Marcus Hand, Editor

April 21, 2021

2 Min Read
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Chee Hong Tat, Singapore Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and FinancePhotos: Marcus Hand

BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), Ocean Network Express (ONE), Foundation Det Norske Veritas, BHP and Sembcorp Marine signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Wednesday morning to establish a fund to set up the decarbonisation centre.

Each partner private sector partner will contribute SGD10m to the fund to support the setting up of the centre and research projects with the MPA adding SGD60m to bring total initial funding to SGD120m.

The setting up of the centre was among the recommendations of the International Advisory Panel on Maritime Decarbonisation that released its recommendations on Wednesday ahead of the agreement signing. Formed in July last year the IAP is co-chaired by Andreas Sohmen-Pao in his role as Chairman of the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) and Wong Weng Sun as Chairman of the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI).

“A key focus of the IAP is on concrete actions and collaborations,” Wong told a media briefing prior to the MoC signing.

In terms of concrete action Sohmen-Pao elaborated: “One of the key projects we proposed is to establish a decarbonisation centre. I am pleased to report we are already taking concrete steps towards the realisation of this centre with a signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with founding partners.”

Related:Multiple pathways and collaborations needed to decarbonise shipping: MISC chief

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Witnessing the signing of the agreement was Chee Hong Tat, Singapore Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Finance, who said, “We have six partners coming onboard to sign this MoC together, and I think this a good start, and I hope more partners can come onboard over time.”

Explaining more about how centre would collaborate with other research bodies in the same space Sohmen-Pao said, “It’s our intention this centre will work closely with NTU’s Energy and Sustainable Development Centre of Excellence and will also collaborate with other centres such as the Maersk-McKinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping.”

 

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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