SINGAPORE- Marine fuel suppliers at Singapore, world’s largest bunker hub, will be required to provide digital bunkering services and issue electronic bunker delivery notes starting April 1, 2025, Amy Khor, Singapore’s senior minister of state for transport, said at the SIBCON 2024 conference.
The move aims to streamline ship fueling, or bunkering, processes by making data sharing between buyers and sellers more efficient and transparent, saving the industry close to 40,000 man-days per year and reducing the risk of fraud.
The announced mandate followed pilot trials with various bunker suppliers since November 2023.
Singapore will be the first port globally to implement digital bunkering at scale for all bunker operations, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Sales of marine bunker fuel at Singapore climbed 8.5 percent in the first half of 2024, official data showed, as shipping disruptions in the Red Sea boosted global bunkering demand, though demand slowed month-on-month in June.
Total sales at the world’s largest vessel bunker hub were at 27.2 million metric tons in the first half, compared to 25.1 million tons a year earlier, data from Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) showed.
