Mr. Eng Dih Teo, Chief Executive of Maritime and Port Authority Singapore, said: Methanol bunkering to start in Singapore Q3 2023 as around 80 participants from 28 agencies, companies, research institutes, associations & Methanol Institute begin preparations.
As part of Singapore Maritime Week (SMW), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) hosted the 13ᵗʰ International Chemical and Oil Pollution Conference and Exhibition, “Spill Strategies in a Decarbonisation Era”. We organised the tabletop exercise (TTX) with Singapore Civil Defence Force, Republic of Singapore Navy, Singapore Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore and National Environment Agency and our research institutes, with the International Maritime Organization in attendance, to review roles & responsibilities and discuss the preemptive actions and emergency responses members will undertake.
Methanol is widely used as chemicals in industry. While ship engines for ammonia and hydrogen are being developed for the hydrogen economy, shipping industry members such as A.P. Moller – Maersk, COSCO SHIPPING Lines, CMA CGM and cruise liners such as Disney Cruise Line have ordered dual-fuelled methanol vessels as part of a multi-fuel future. Green methanol, produced from green hydrogen and biogenic carbon dioxide, is in short supply globally and more production is coming online.
Methanol bunkering infrastructure and regulatory frameworks will be need. As fuel, green methanol offers several advantages including its ability to remain in liquid state in RTP, making it more convenient to store, transport and distribute. Existing storage tanks, pipelines from terminal operators such as Vopak in S’pore are methanol-compatible.
As a chemical, methanol has low flash point at 11°C and produces flammable vapours which burns with a clear flame that is hard to spot, particularly in the day. Methanol is miscible with water, and detecting a methanol spill will be critical for incident responses. To address such challenges, our researchers used MPA’s hydrographic data and wind data from the Meteorological Service Singapore to model the plume dynamics, slick spreading, entrainment of the dissolved particulate methanol to study the dispersion behaviors for spill management. This exercise allows stakeholders to review mitigation measures including safety checks for fire and spill detection, and seafarer & crew competency for methanol handling and firefighting training.
The TTX is a springboard when MPA carries out ground deployment exercises with companies planning for methanol bunkering and also prepares stakeholders to handle ammonia and hydrogen in future. MPA will also work with classification societies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization and the IMO on methanol bunkering standards and regulations.
Such efforts will aid MaritimeSG to conduct our first methanol bunkering operation by Maersk Oil Trading, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsui & Co. Energy Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd. (METS) & American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) safely and securely later the year!
Source SMW2023