The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) on 10 July 2023 to invite interested parties to submit proposals to design and promote adoption of full-electric harbour craft (e-HC) in Singapore.
The Ministry of Transport announced at Committee of Supply debate this year that the harbour craft, pleasure craft and tug boat sectors would be required to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in line with Singapore’s national net zero ambitions. To support this goal, operators with new harbour craft plans should inform the MPA about their plans from January 2027, so that the designs can be adjusted if required.
MPA intends to support harbour craft companies by providing e-HC engineering reference designs and safety standards to adopt, as well as helping the companies access more attractive financing solutions and lower the cost of production through aggregating overall demand for e-HC in the sector.
To facilitate the development of green financing models for the development of the e-HC, the EOI will invite proposals to demonstrate the commercial viability of various business models based on an aggregated harbour craft fleet to meet the demand at the Port of Singapore.
An aggregated fleet aims to improve utilisation rates, encouraging more companies, especially those with smaller fleet size, to electrify their harbour craft, while providing efficient and responsive services to meet the needs of ships calling into Singapore.
For a start, the EOI will focus on the design and support for transition to electrification of the smaller harbour craft. There are currently about 400 of these harbour craft deployed in the Port of Singapore.
This will also support the development of green financing options and enhance the skills of our maritime workforce. We look forward to receiving the proposals and working with like-minded partners to grow the green economy and contribute towards Singapore’s decarbonisation goals
… said Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA
