BHP joins the Maritime Decarbonisation Centre in Singapore
Anglo-Australian BHP has signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) to become one of the founding members of the Maritime Decarbonisation Centre to be set up in Singapore, it said on April 21.
Under the MoC, BHP together with BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Ocean Network Express, Sembcorp Marine and The Foundation Det Norske Veritas has pledged to contribute S$10mn (US$7.5mn) each to support the establishment of the centre and fund research and technology development projects in areas relating to decarbonisation in the maritime industry. MPA will add S$60mn R&D funding to these contributions, bringing the fund to a total of S$120mn.
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The Maritime Decarbonisation Centre will collaborate with other maritime technology centres based in Singapore as well as decarbonisation centres around the world to share knowledge and build capabilities. The centre will support trials of new fuels and technologies. It will include facilities for corporate labs, research facilities and house research offices and space for maritime tech start-ups, BHP said.
BHP was part of the first marine biofuel trial involving an ocean-going vessel bunkered in Singapore earlier this month. It awarded the world’s first LNG-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carrier tender to Eastern Pacific Shipping and the first LNG supply agreement for these LNG-fuelled iron ore vessels to Shell.