Singapore News

Oil product inventories in the Singapore storage and trading hub fell to an eight-month low in the week ended July 17, official data showed, in one of the latest signs that suppliers are gearing up for rule changes to make marine fuel cleaner.Singapore onshore stocks of petroleum products, which include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and residual fuel oil, came in at 38.372 million barrels, down from 41.725 million barrels in the previous week and their lowest since the week ended Nov.

Shippers trying to minimise time in the Middle East after oil tanker attacks pushed up insurance costs are scaling back purchases of marine fuels from the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Fujairah oil hub, trade sources said.Instead, they are turning primarily to Singapore, the world's top refuelling hub, to buy marine fuels, also known as bunkers, with some diverting to smaller bunkering ports, including in India and Sri Lanka, the sources said.A tonne of 380-centistoke (cst) high…

Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has through its wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Shipyard, secured a contract from repeat customer Yinson for the modification of a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).The contract is between Keppel Shipyard and Yinson Nepeta Production Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yinson Production Pte Ltd, for the fast-track modification and upgrading of FPSO Allan. Keppel Shipyard’s scope of work includes refurbishment and life extension works…

ClassNK  confirmed type approval certification for SMARTShip, a patented digital shipping solution developed by Alpha Ori Technologies (AOT).SMARTShip, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that enables the onboard operation of multiple systems with varying degrees of autonomy, has already been installed on more than 30 vessels, with another 60 ships are at various stages of the set-up process.ClassNK’s certification for SMARTShip approves the solution as a ‘Computer Based System’ which conforms to the Class Society’s rules governing a product performing ‘Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics’…

For the sixth year running, Singapore has clinched the top spot among the world's maritime centers in the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index.The island city-state in Southeast Asia beat 42 other cities such as Hong Kong, which ranked second, as well as London, which ranked third.Based on the evaluation scores, Singapore shows strength in ship management and shipbroking services, while Hong Kong is benefiting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and economic opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.London’s first-class services in shipbroking…

Qatar based  S'hail Shipping and Maritime Services has added two panamax dry bulk carrier into the Baumarine pool, a specialized panamax, kamsarmax and post-panamax pool run by Torvald Klaveness.The Norwegian shipping company said in a press note that the good vessels MV S’hail al Rayan and MV S’hail al Dukhan of S’hail Shipping recently joined its pool.Head of Pool Management at Klaveness, Hans Næss Olstad explained, “With this fourth and fifth vessel in the Baumarine Pool, S’hail…

Irish wind and solar projects developer Mainstream Renewable Power has appointed Raghuram Natarajan chief executive of its Asia-Pacific business."This key appointment to the Group’s Leadership Team, based out of its newly opened regional headquarters in Singapore, comes ahead of significant expansion plans for the region," said a press release.Natarajan brings a decade and a half of senior leadership experience in the wind and solar industry across India, Thailand, the Philippines…

German cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG announced that it is currently testing ship-painting robots with nine of its ships."Traditional manual work is increasingly being replaced by automated processes, such as self-driving Automated Guided Vehicles in container terminals. Thanks to robots, the quality of ship painting can also be improved and the docking time shortened," the transnational transportation company said in a press release.Keeping barnacles, mussels and algae off the hull – the subject of fouling is as old as shipping itself.

Taiwanese ocean shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation has announced new China-Thailand direct service and Thailand - Indonesia express service.Under the impact of rising global trade tensions, a relocation and adjustment of cargo flow and supply chains is expected. To cope with this trend, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. continuously strengthens its Asian service network as well as the quality of Asian routes.Yang Ming has announced the launch of a new Intra-Asia service, China-Thailand Service (CTX service).

Singapore-based shipping company Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd (PIL) announced improvements to its Southeast Asia to Australia services to meet the changing needs of the markets.PIL's current Australia-Asia Alliance Service 1 and 2 (AA1 & AA2) will be upgraded to offer more competitive transit times and better port connections.The enhanced AA1 and AA2 services will cover all major ports in Australia with effect from early August, shipper said in a press note.Port rotations of AA1 will be Laem Chabang – Singapore –Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane - Singapore – Laem Chabang.

Port authorities in Asia are getting ready to enforce IMO 2020 with the help of Hitachi High-Tech Analytical Science’s X-MET8000 handheld XRF analyzer.The Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation informed that it has recently delivered X-MET8000’s to both the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) as they get ready to enforce the IMO’s (International Maritime Organization) MARPOL Annex VI regulation that will come into force on 1 January 2020.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore…

SEA\LNG, a multi-sector industry coalition, created to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, has announced that the Port of Virginia has become the first port in the US to join them.A press release from the LNG body quoted Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, as commenting: “We’re very pleased to welcome the Port of Virginia as our first US port member. The US has vastly increased its LNG export capacity since the industry really took flight in early 2016, inspiring development in LNG bunkering capabilities on the East and West Coasts.

World's largest solar project proposed in Australia, connected to South East Asia via subsea cable.Singapore-based Sun Cable has proposed a 10 GW solar farm near Tenant Creek in Australia, with facilities to export electricity via a subsea High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable straight to Singapore.Rystad Energy said that the proposed renewable energy project will provide one fifth of Singapore’s electricity needs.In terms of size, the only solar project of a similar scale in Australia is the Asian Renewable Energy Hub which plans to supply a regional load to the Pilbara region…

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Saudi Arabia’s Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services  (RVOS) has contracted Netherlands-based Praxis Automation Technology to deliver dynamic positioning systems for its fleet of offshore support vessels (OSVs) operating out of the country. RVOS, joint venture company between Rawabi Holding and Vallianz Holdings Limited of Singapore, said that the contract includes the retrofit of 14 ships with a Praxis Automation Class 2 Dynamic Positioning (DP) system, including the integration to the ship’s power distribution system and control systems.Jerome Lin…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has announced that reclamation work for Tuas Terminal Phase 2 began ysterday (4 July), with the installation of the first caisson.Singapore’s next-generation trade hub has commenced at a ceremony attended by Dr. Lam Pin Min, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Transport and Health.MPA awarded the Tuas Terminal Phase 2 reclamation project to Penta-Ocean Construction Co. Ltd/Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd/Boskalis International BV (PHB) Joint Venture in 2018.

German solution provider to the marine and energy sectors, MAN Energy Solutions (MES) has signed a Global Key Account Management contract with Hong Kongbased Wallem Group.The contract covers the supply of spares and services to MAN main engines, generators and turbochargers aboard vessels managed by Wallem, the provider of technology-driven maritime solutions.According to a press release from Augsburg-based MES, the global agreement covers all offices of the Wallem Group and provides access to a dedicated global and local key account manager from MAN PrimeServ…

DNV GL, the international accredited registrar and classification society, said that it has been appointed by PUB, Singapore’s national water agency,  as technical adviser for a 50MW floating photovoltaic (PV) project tender in Singapore.The first-of-its-kind 50 MW project, south-east Asia’s largest floating PV, could reduce Singapore’s carbon footprint by the equivalent removing 6,000 cars off local roads."Once completed, the floating solar project will be one of the largest…

China's Ministry of Transport has raised its security recommendation for Chinese vessels in the Malacca Strait, a major potential bottleneck for global oil, to the highest level, according to a notice dated July 2 sent to shipping companies.The level for Chinese vessels passing through and going to the strait was raised to "3" as of 10 p.m. on July 2 (1400 GMT), according to the notice, whose authenticity was confirmed by an official at the ministry.It said shipping firms "should…

Singaporean rig builder Sembcorp Marine said on Wednesday that authorities had searched its shipyard in Brazil as part of a graft investigation, sending its shares lower and underlining the staying power of Brazil's ongoing "Car Wash" corruption probe.Sembcorp Marine said the search was related to investigations against former consultant Guilherme Esteves de Jesus, adding that Martin Cheah Kok Choon, the former president of the Estaleiro Jurong Aracruz shipyard, was also under investigation.In a separate statement…

LNT Marine has successfully completed gas trials of its novel LNTA-BOX containment system aboard Saga Dawn, a mid-size LNG carrier due for delivery from China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) shipyard.Saga LNG Shipping and China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMIH) signed a contract for the 45,000m3-capacity LNG carrier in late 2015, with the yard subsequently entering into a license agreement with Singapore’s LNT Marine for the game-changing LNT A-BOX containment system.Due for delivery in July…

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) formulated MOL Group Environmental Vision 2030 to present our cutting-edge initiatives for environmental preservation."Shpping companies are responsible for undertaking the marine transportation vital to the infrastructure underpinning people's daily lives worldwide," it said.MOL established a policy to equip its vessels with ballast water treatment systems in fiscal year 2014, ahead of the issuance of the Ballast Water Management Convention in September 2017.As of April 2019…

GeoSpace-Sea, a new database on Singapore's waters, from its coastlines to the seabed, was launched yesterday (June 28) by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).GeoSpace-Sea aims to provide comprehensive geospatial data for port and coastal planning, among other things, as well as environmental management.MPA, together with 11 other government agencies and the Tropical Marine Science Institute from National University of Singapore, will develop GeoSpace-Sea in phases.“The…