The Port of Singapore became the first port globally to adopt mass flow metering for custody transfers on 1 January 2017. As announced during SiBCON, Singapore will now become the first port globally to implement digital bunkering at scale for all bunkering operations and will continue to share its experiences with like-minded ports.
To remind, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) accepted e-BDN as an equivalent format from July 2023. Speaking at the exhibition, Dr Amy Khor announced that from 1 April 2025, all bunker suppliers will be required to provide digital bunkering services and issue electronic bunker delivery notes (e-BDNs) as a default. This announcement follows successful pilots conducted since 1 November 2023 with bunker suppliers, including the top 10 bunker players, in Singapore.
The digital bunkering process allows for efficient data sharing between bunker buyers and suppliers, which will help expedite administrative processes, improve accountability, ensure compliance with regulations, reduce the potential for errors, and support early detection of fraudulent activities. It also promotes a more streamlined, secured, and environmentally friendly bunkering process, which is expected to help industry save close to 40,000 man-days annually.
To further enhance transparency and transaction integrity in bunkering operations, MPA will also introduce a centralised e-BDN record verification facility. This enables key stakeholders to verify the e-BDN received against the information transmitted to MPA. In addition, Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), through the Singapore Standards Council (SSC), will launch a new Singapore Standard (SS) 709 Specification for Digital Bunkering Supply Chain Documentation, to ensure data consistency and interoperability between digital systems and facilitate smoother transactions through trusted and verifiable digital bunkering documents.
EnterpriseSG has also launched the revised Singapore Standard (SS) 648 Code of Practice for Bunker Mass Flow Metering to include data integrity and transmission requirements in line with this new digital standard.
