SIMIC

Gary Howard | Aug 02, 2022

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Port of Rotterdam signed a MoU to establish “the world’s longest Green and Digital Corridor”.

The two port authorities will address the challenges around adopting and distributing green fuels by bringing together shippers, fuel suppliers and other interested parties to co-operate on the development of potential solutions. The challenges noted include cost, availability, safety, and the range limitations introduced with lower power density fuels.

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The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation and Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero-Carbon Shipping are action partners with the port authorities, and are joined by the likes of bp, CMA CGM, DCSA, Maersk, MSC, Ocean Network Express, PSA International, and Shell.

For the digital side of the corridor, the partners aim to establish a “digital trade lane” for the exchange of data, electronic documentation and standards with a view to improving efficiency, safety, and introducing just-in-time arrival capabilities.

Related: Port of Rotterdam eyes green corridor with Singapore

The agreement was signed MPA chief executive Quah Ley Hoon, Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein witnessed by S Iswaran, Minister for Transport and Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, Singapore, and Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam.

Seatrade Maritime News first reported on discussions about the green corridor during an interview with Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam, on The Maritime Podcast earlier this year. Listen to the interview in the player below:

Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, said: “This MoU further strengthens the strong partnership between Singapore and Rotterdam.  It reaffirms Singapore’s commitment towards facilitating a multi-fuel bunkering transition as part of the Maritime Singapore Decarbonisation Blueprint 2050, and accelerates our digitalisation efforts to optimise maritime efficiency and improve supply chain resilience.”

S Iswaran, Minister for Transport and Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, Singapore, said, “This MoU with the Port of Rotterdam demonstrates how likeminded partners can work together to complement the efforts of the IMO. It will serve as a valuable platform to pilot ideas that can be scaled up for more sustainable international shipping.”

Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam, said: “Shipping is among the most important industries to decarbonise, owing to its large international reach and volume, which continues to grow. By bringing together parties across the supply chain along one of the world’s biggest trade lanes, we can enable carriers to switch to zero-carbon fuels and speed up the transition to more sustainable shipping”.