Singapore maritime bodies seek proposals to electrify harbourcraft; S$9m to co-fund projects

THE Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) on Wednesday launched a joint call for proposals on the electrification of harbourcraft, to support the Singapore harbourcraft industry's transition towards a low-carbon future.

These proposals should come from consortia comprising industry players and institutes of higher learning/research institutes, they said.

MPA and SMI added that S$9 million from the Maritime GreenFuture Fund will be set aside to co-fund such harbourcraft projects.

Proposals should seek to develop commercially ready, fully electric harbourcraft, and/or interoperable shore charging infrastructure for electric harbourcraft and other electric vessels operating in the Port of Singapore.

Those with a viable business model for scalability will be more favourably considered, MPA and SMI said. The deadline for submission of white papers is Oct 31.

MPA chief technology officer and senior director, innovation, technology and talent development Kenneth Lim said that through the call, MPA and SMI wanted to spur collaborative efforts to generate innovative ideas, and facilitate cross-sharing of domain expertise in vessel electrification between industry and academia.

SMI executive director Sanjay Kuttan added: "Green supply chain is the future of shipping and for Singapore to maintain its hub status, innovation must enable the transformation of the shipping industry through co-creation."

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