Singapore regional focus

Question: How are regional decarbonisation efforts, such as Singapore’s push for green shipping corridors, influencing insurance and risk assessment for shipping companies?

Singapore is not only a dynamic market in its own right, but it is playing an active role in contributing to the maritime industry’s wider efforts to achieve its 2050 net-zero targets.

As well as proving to be an innovation hub for clean technology and alternative fuels, it has taken decisive steps in recent years to ensure the development of net-zero pathways. For example, Singapore has established multiple bilateral Green and Digital Shipping Corridors (GDSC) with the ports of Rotterdam, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Tianjin, Japan, Australia, and Shandong. These corridors aim to establish standards and best practices that will support the decarbonisation, digitalisation and growth of the maritime industry. This includes the development of alternative marine fuels such as ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen value chains to safely offer a range of alternative fuel technologies to the maritime industry within the region.

Singapore continues to lead in the development of alternative fuel technology and was an early adopter of LNG as a fuel, with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) awarding its’ first LNG bunkering licence in 2016. In its efforts to support its Members in their decarbonisation journey, The UK P&I Club has collaborated with the Methane Abatement in Maritime Innovation Initiative (MAMII), part of the Lloyds Register’s SafetyTech Accelerator program. This partnership unites industry leaders, technology innovators, and maritime stakeholders to advance technologies that monitor, measure and mitigate methane emissions in the maritime sector.

With regards to broader alternative fuel initiatives, in 2024, the MPA – in collaboration with Fortescue – conducted the world’s first ammonia-diesel marine trial to support the development of ammonia bunkering within the region. The first simultaneous methanol bunkering and cargo operations (SIMOPS) were conducted at Tuas Port. Singapore also plans to release a Technical Reference for methanol bunkering in 2025 to address safety, competencies, and regulatory frameworks.

Of course, from a safety and risk management perspective, the introduction of alternative fuels into maritime operations – although vital – also poses unique challenges in terms of their evolving risk profiles. Emerging fuel technologies such as methanol and ammonia are distinctly toxic substances, which will require a new approach to crew training to ensure that seafarers are equipped with the knowledge and understanding that will promote the safe handling of new fuels onboard.

There currently exists a significant lack of operational experience for crews in handling alternative fuels, with no formal training programmes in place and a distinct lack of formalised regulatory frameworks that govern the safe handling and use of such alternative fuels. This means that there is a requirement for more operational training and guidelines to be developed to support the safe integration and operational handling of newly introduced fuel technology. The MPA has proactively addressed this competency gap by establishing Singapore’s Maritime Energy Training Facility (METF). This industry-supported facility will provide dedicated training to international seafarers on the safe handling, bunkering and management of incidents involving the use of alternative fuels.

The UK Club is also exploring potential collaborations to provide bespoke training that equips seafarers with knowledge and understanding of the risks associated with using ammonia as a fuel. Additionally, we are considering partnerships to create a learning portal for Club Members focused on alternative fuels, including ammonia. Alongside these initiatives, we are working on a structured ‘Risk Focus’ to produce guidelines highlighting the additional safety risks associated with using ammonia as a fuel. The objective is to improve the understanding of the risks associated with bunkering, carrying, and using ammonia, with a special focus on crew safety.

With Asia Pacific being home to some of the busiest ports in the world (like Singapore), how do you assess risks related to port congestion and infrastructure adequacy?

Singapore’s port terminal operators – PSAC and JPPL – are acutely aware of the challenges that they face as one of the busiest ports in the world. As a result, they have worked to deploy smart systems and solutions to enhance port operational efficiency to reduce idle or waiting time by vessels and vehicles at the port terminals. The most notable example is the implementation of a “Just-in-Time” (JIT) planning and coordination platform, which matches available berths upon arrival in Singapore to expedite any linked services such as bunkering, or husbandry. The implementation of JIT arrival protocols in Singapore helps to optimise vessel schedules and reduce the likelihood of congestion. Reducing idling time at anchorage also has environmental benefits. Quicker turnaround times means vessel are burning less fuel and therefore reducing emissions.

Singapore’s foresight in developing a smart port like Tuas Mega port highlights its commitment to addressing future capacity demands. However, unforeseen events such as extreme weather, cyber attacks, a global pandemic, or wider geopolitical events represent ongoing challenges and risk for our Members.

As a result, we are taking a proactive approach to assessing the risks associated with a port’s infrastructure adequacy and preparedness in handling these disruptions. For instance, with regards to cyber attacks, the Club is currently working with maritime cyber experts, CyberOwl, to develop an updated version of the “Risk Focus: Cyber” publication, to assist Members in identifying, managing, and mitigating evolving cyber risks.

Vigilance around navigational safety is a key concern for our Members operating in the Singapore Straits, due to the high traffic density. This requires a combination of technical and operational skills as well as behavioural competencies. We are seeing more digital navigation tools come into the market which are making this easier once they are fully integrated but there is still a need for holistic training which includes the human factors. To help support this, we collaborate with leading civil aviation trainers CAE to offer our Members human behaviour and decision-support training.

Expanding the behavioural theme, we also partner with award-winning psychologist, Dr Marcin Nazaruk. His innovative “Learning from Normal Work” methodology challenges traditional approaches to safety and risk management by focusing exclusively on identifying potential hazards, or improving through accident investigation, which helps companies to identify the sources of operational inefficiencies and the causes of accidents, before they happen.

A further risk that our Members face, is the potential for the detention of ships operating or anchoring in undesignated areas, particularly within Singapore’s Outer Port Limits (OPLs). Vessels operating in these areas risk detention by Malaysian or Indonesian authorities if the ship’s location is within their territorial waters. However, through our extensive network of local correspondents, The UK P&I Club is able to provide its Members with up-to-date information on designated anchorages and compliance requirements to avoid costly detentions and operational disruptions.

An additional safety and risk consideration is with regards to armed robbery, which remains prevalent in the Singapore and Malacca Straits. Shipping companies are advised to adopt heightened vigilance and follow Best Management Practises (BMP) protocols to mitigate such risks and the UK P&I Club remains closely engaged with maritime organisations like Singapore Shipping Associations (SSA), the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) and the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), to ensure we are able to offer the best assistance to Members within the region.

This myriad of challenges is an understandable reflection of Singapore’s position as the world’s largest transhipment hub, which is emphasised by its record high annual throughput of more than 40m TEUs in 2024. Against this backdrop, Singapore is an important hive of innovation in areas such as decarbonisation and digitalisation and is continuously setting new standards in port innovation. The UK P&I Club is excited to be part of these developments as we continue to collaborate with progressive companies that are operating in the region. By doing so, we can equip Members with the right support to improve operational safety and manage risk as market dynamics evolve.