Ammonia fuel spills present new safety risks; Singapore to move ‘progressively’: Chee Hong Tat
The transport minister also addresses suggestions such as containment booms around ships at anchorages
THE shipping industry’s transition towards new green fuels – such as ammonia and methanol – presents new safety challenges with the risk of spills, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on Monday (Jun 24).
“This is the reason why we have been very careful not to go into these new types of fuels before we are ready. We are conducting trials with industry players. We are also working with our tripartite partners, our industry players and unions to train our workers… to be ready to deal with this,” he said.
Chee was speaking at a press conference on Singapore’s response to the Jun 14 oil spill, alongside Minister for National Development Desmond Lee and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
Responding to a question from The Business Times on how Singapore will deal with ammonia spills, Chee noted that a spill involving the toxic chemical would be very different from an oil spill.
Therefore, Singapore will move “progressively” on these new fuels with safety remaining a priority, he added.
Chee’s comments come as Singapore is exploring the potential of ammonia – with plans for a project supplying low- or zero-carbon ammonia for power generation and bunkering on Jurong Island.
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Ammonia, as well as methanol and hydrogen, is being explored as a clean alternative to marine fuel that can help the shipping sector decarbonise, in order to meet its ambitions for net-zero emissions by, or around, 2050.
Booms at anchorage not feasible
At the press conference, Chee also addressed some industry feedback on how Singapore handled the oil spills. For instance, he noted that an industry player had called for Singapore to place containment booms – floating structures that prevent the spread of oil – as a pre-emptive measure against oil spills.
Dismissing the suggestion, Chee said: “Based on our chats with industry players, they don’t think this is practical or feasible. It’s also not a practice in other major ports of the world.”
As a major global port, Singapore sees thousands of vessels at anchorage any one time, with a “dynamic situation” where many are coming and leaving at the same time.
Deploying booms around vessels is not a straightforward task, requiring time and expertise, as well as regular maintenance.
“You can imagine if we had to do this for every ship in our anchorage – and there are thousands of them at any one time – this whole process will take a long time; it will cost a lot of money,” he said.
In addition, these booms could snap and float away, causing navigational safety concerns, he said, while also noting that calls to deploy the booms along Singapore’s coastline are similarly not feasible.
Overall, Singapore’s oil spill response has been targeted and in line with international norms, said Chee.
When asked about what could be improved, he said that the government will “take a look at what are the learning points and how we can refine the processes going forward”.
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