Singapore-based licensed LNG bunker supplier FueLNG held a virtual ceremony for naming Singapore’s first LNG bunkering vessel, or LBV, paving the way for further development of LNG as a marine fuel in the world's largest bunkering port, industry sources said.

Scheduled to be operational by end-2020, the vessel -- FueLNG Bellina -- will enable FueLNG to be the first to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services within the Singapore port, FueLNG said in a statement Oct. 1.

Designed and built by Keppel O&M, the ship is on track to arrive in Singapore later this year from the Keppel Nantong Shipyard in China, FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum, said.

When operational, the ship's first contracts will be to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering to the Shell-chartered tankers and for one of Hapag Lloyd’s container vessels, it said.

FueLNG will also provide LNG bunkering from Singapore’s first dedicated LNG bunkering facility which will be built by Keppel O&M on its Floating Living Lab, with Shell supplying the LNG to the facility when it becomes operational at the end of 2021, it added.

Singapore LNG bunkering thrust

Major bunker ports such as Singapore are embracing LNG as a maritime fuel, an industry source said Oct. 2.

Singapore is actively encouraging vessels which call at its port to use cleaner fuels such as LNG, by providing them with port dues concessions, and co-funding building of LNG-fueled bunker tankers.

This comes as stricter environmental rules loom in international shipping.

LNG as a marine fuel not only tackles sulfur emissions, but compared with existing heavy marine fuel oils, LNG also emits 90% less nitrogen oxide, and through best practices and appropriate technologies minimizes methane leakage, realistically reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 10%-20% with a potential for up to 25%, according to industry sources.

“This occasion marks an important milestone in Singapore’s journey to achieve the IMO 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target. It is our next step towards regular ship-to-ship LNG bunkering activities in Singapore," Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport & Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in the same statement Oct. 1.

"As we progress towards a low-carbon future, we will intensify our efforts to develop the Port of Singapore into a global LNG bunkering hub,” he added.

A recent webinar held by DNV GL noted that while ammonia and methanol are promising fuels for the future, installing a dual-fuel LNG engine on, for example, a Panamax bulk carrier newbuild is consistently the most robust choice.

Using LNG as a marine fuel not only aids compliance, but is also cost effective and provides flexibility in terms of setting aside space for, and potentially reuse of, fuel storage tanks, Tore Longva, DNV GL's maritime principal consultant for regulatory affairs, said in the webinar.