Singapore will conduct its first ethanol bunkering operation this week, in what is expected to be the largest such operation anywhere in the world to date.
The trial, announced by Senior Minister of State Murali Pillai during his Sibcon address, involves an A.P. Moller-Maersk vessel, bunkering supplier Golden Island and PSA Singapore. Around 5,000 metric tonnes of ISCC-certified bioethanol will be delivered at PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal.
The bioethanol will be bunkered using a mass flow meter while the vessel carries out simultaneous cargo operations — a combination that will test both measurement accuracy and operational safety under real working conditions.
A key question the trial aims to answer is whether Singapore's existing technical reference for methanol bunkering, TR 129, can be applied to ethanol. Because the two alcohols share similar chemical properties, ethanol can be stored in the same tanks, blended in any ratio and handled with the same infrastructure, requiring only minor modifications to methanol dual-fuel engines.
The findings will help establish the technical and regulatory requirements for future ethanol bunkering in Singapore, adding another pathway to the port's multi-fuel offering alongside LNG, methanol, ammonia and biofuels.
Ethanol's appeal lies partly in this compatibility: traders and suppliers active in commodity trading can treat it as an extension of existing methanol supply chains rather than an entirely new product line, lowering the cost of early adoption.
Maersk and CMA CGM have already trialled ethanol aboard methanol dual-fuel container ships at various locations, and a successful large-scale operation in Singapore would give the fuel a significant credibility boost.
