India and Singapore signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) at the Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) to work on partnership on digitalization and decarbonization projects, aiming to establish a Singapore-India Green Shipping and Digital Shipping Corridor (GDSC).
The partnership will capitalize on India’s expertise in information technology and green fuel production, and Singapore’s role as a global maritime hub to accelerate the adoption of low-emission technologies and digital innovations in maritime operations, boosting sustainability and efficiency in the sector.
The announcement followed one between the Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Port of Rotterdam to further strengthen their efforts on the Rotterdam-Singapore Green and Digital Shipping Corridor. The two ports have brought together 28 partners across the entire container shipping value chain to drive the deployment of sustainable fuels on the 15,000-kilometer shipping route and implement digital solutions for improved efficiency.
The collective ambition is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of large container vessels on the corridor by 20-30% by 2030, while accelerating the adoption of global standards and solutions to facilitate efficient port calls, flow of goods, and enable paperless handling.
The partners aim to increase availability and adoption of bio- and e-variants of ammonia, methanol, and methane, with working groups established for each fuel type. Since 2022, the partners have bunkered mass-balanced liquefied bio-methane at the Port of Rotterdam and plan a similar trial in Singapore in 2025. They have also completed a Life Cycle greenhouse gas Assessment (LCA) of green ammonia as a marine fuel.
The partners plan to conduct further studies and trials for the bunkering of bio-methane, methanol and ammonia to support their future use along the shipping corridor. They also aim to develop and mobilize financial instruments to address the cost barriers associated with using low- and near-zero emission fuels.
The two ports have successfully trialled the exchange of port-to-port data to exchange vessel arrival and departure timestamps aiming to optimize vessel arrival planning and port operations between Singapore and Rotterdam.
“The continued progress through the Singapore-Rotterdam Green and Digital Shipping Corridor is testament to the role of public-private collaboration to bring decarbonisation and digitalisation initiatives from ideas to implementation,” said Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA. “We look forward to collaborating with more partners to bring impact to one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and accelerate the decarbonisation and digitalisation of the shipping industry.”
