Golden Centaurus supplying 5000 mt of ISCC-certified bioethanol to Maersk Halifax. Image Credit: Golden Island

Singapore-based marine fuel supplier Golden Island has completed the country's first ethanol bunkering operation, supplying the fuel to a Maersk methanol dual-fuel container ship.

The operation took place at PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal, where the Singapore-registered Maersk Halifax received 5,000 mt of ISCC-certified bioethanol alongside cargo operations.

Senior Minister of State for Law and Transport Murali Pillai SC had announced the planned operation during his speech at SIBCON on Wednesday.

The transfer was the world's largest single ethanol bunkering operation to date.

The fuel was supplied from the company's chemical tanker Golden Centaurus using a mass flow meter (MFM) system.

A.P. Moller-Maersk, PSA Singapore and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) supported the operation, while Stolthaven Singapore handled the storage and transfer of the ethanol.

Data gathered during the operation will help assess how Singapore's existing methanol bunkering framework, Technical Reference 129 (TR 129), could be adapted for ethanol.

"We are proud to have delivered Singapore's first ethanol bunkering, and to have done it alongside live cargo operations, using a mass flow meter," Johnny Tan, managing director of Golden Island, said.

Golden Island was one of the three firms that received licence from the MPA last year to supply methanol as marine fuel in Singapore waters.  

Ethanol is increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative marine fuel alongside methanol.

Maersk had previously bunkered ethanol as part of its trials to see how the fuel performs in its methanol dual-fuel container ships in Europe.