The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), through the Singapore Standards Council (SSC), have published a new Technical Reference (TR) 129 on Methanol Bunkering.

The standard for the safe handling of methanol as a fuel in bunker operations is seen by the MPA as an important step operationalising methanol bunkering at scale.

It joins standards for bunkering that Singapore already has for conventional fuels.

The TR129 standard covers custody transfer requirements, operational and safety requirements, and guidance on use of mass flow meters (MFM). The first trial of simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operations was in May 2024 at Tuas Port with the use of the MFM system for methanol and digital bunkering.

David Foo, MPA Assistant Chief Executive (Operations/Operations Technology), said, “The development of the Technical Reference 129 on the safe and efficient use of methanol for bunkering in Singapore is the result of the collective efforts by government agencies, industry partners, and research institutes. It provides clear guidelines to support the safe adoption of methanol as a marine fuel and gives the industry greater confidence in their transition to use of sustainable fuels.”

The Port of Rotterdam announced it bunkered 9.1m tonnes of fossil fuels in 2024, down 0.9% on 9.2m tonnes in 2023. The figure marks the second consecutive drop in overall bunker volumes from 9.8m tonnes in 2022.

The port attributed higher demand for LNG to a normalisation of gas prices. Rotterdam bunkering 52% more LNG in 2024 at 941,366 cu m, well above the levels recorded in 2021-2023.

Volumes were down for 5.9% for ULSFO, 9.0% for VLSFO, and 30.3% for MDO, while MGO and HSFO volumes both rose on-year by 7.1% and 7.8%, respectively.

Bio-blended bunker volumes rose slightly at the port, led by a near-trebling of bio-blended ULSFO volumes and a jump from 750 tonnes of biomethanol in 2023, the first year it was offered, to 3,900 tonnes in 2024. These increases were balanced by a 25% drop in bio-blended VLSFO to 439,227 tonnes.

“The demand for bio-blended fuels in 2024 exhibited a clear dichotomy: a slight growth in the first half of the year, followed by a sharp decline in the second half,” said Port of Rotterdam.

“That was particularly evident in the demand for bio-blended VLSFO, the largest of the bio-blends. The increased availability of bio-blended fuels in Asia following the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Chinese biofuel was the primary cause.”

Ahead of his appearance at Seatrade Maritime Qatar in February, Seatrade Maritime News spoke with GulfNav Group CFO Ali Abouda about recent and ongoing developments at the tanker owner, maritime logistics, ship management and agency group, and the company's ambitions in Qatar.

What is the current state of the acquisition of Brooge Energy Limited, and how will the acquisition affect GulfNav’s operations and capabilities?

[AA:] As of now GulfNav is in an advanced stage of the acquisition process which is still subject to regulatory approvals. This acquisition once completed will have a great impact on Gulfnav’s operations and capabilities through integrated services offerings of an end to end logistic solution, establishing a new market in the space of alternative fuel which has been picking up.

Given the strategic location of Fujairah where the storage tank farm is located, alternative fuel bunkering could be a significant business. As we have seen in Singapore, the sales of alternative fuels were over 1m tonnes in 2024, so I believe this sets the scene for a successful mirror operation in this region with a great potential for growth and expansion. Finally, integrating storage services into its portfolio allows GulfNav to diversify its revenue streams, reducing dependence on shipping operations and mitigating market volatility risks.