Shell-Keppel LNG Joint Venture Shares Singapore Milestone

The 2016-established bunkering services provider FueLNG recently completed its 100th LNG bunkering operation, setting a new industry milestone for Singapore.

The company, which is a 50-50 joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Shell Eastern Petroleum, conducted the bunkering with no loss-time incidents and in accordance with the Technical reference (TR) 56 standard for LNG bunkering in Singapore.

Since May 2018, the company has been providing truck-to-ship LNG bunkering for two dual-fuel tugs operated by Keppel Smit Towage.

In September 2017, FueLNG completed its first operation and provided LNG for the commissioning of the floating liquefaction vessel Hilli Episeyo.

“We are optimistic that the industry will increasingly adopt LNG as a marine fuel and look forward to furthering our partnership with industry stakeholders to build a world-class LNG bunkering network in Singapore,” Chris Ong, Chairman, FueLNG and CEO, Keppel O&M, said.

“We hope that this would strengthen Singapore’s offering as a global maritime hub and bunkering port,” Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), said.

“We will continue to work through local and international partnerships to increase the viability of LNG as a marine fuel for the future.”

The benefits of LNG as fuel have been tracked by Keppel Smit Towage, which has observed that when running on LNG, the tugs perform as efficiently as when using diesel, but consume 5% less fuel in tonnes.

In line with the company’s promotion of LNG as a marine fuel, FueLNG has placed an order with Keppel O&M to build South East Asia’s first LNG bunkering vessel, which is projected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020. This will enable FueLNG to provide ship-to-ship bunkering services within the Singapore port.