Singapore’s first electric ferry ready to set sail next month, as maritime sector continues green push

SINGAPORE: Singapore's first electric ferry is ready to set sail next month.

The Penguin Refresh will begin ferrying Shell personnel, contractors and visitors between Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal and Pulau Bukom in May.

The vessel was unveiled at an event held at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore on Pulau Bukom on Monday (Apr 17), and is a significant step towards the government's requirement to green harbour craft fleets in Singapore.

Mr Nick Potter, general manager of Shell Shipping and Maritime for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, said at the launch: "By August this year, we will have three of these fully-electric ferries in operation, and we'll look and we'll learn from these ferries and understand what's possible as we go forward around electrification.”

He added that Shell sees electrification of port operations, harbour craft, and short sea shipping as a key enabler towards achieving net zero carbon.

CLEANER RIDES

Shell worked with Singaporean shipbuilder and shipowner Penguin International on the electric ferry project, the first for the oil giant globally.

When all three vessels are eventually deployed, they will transport some 3,000 passengers a day between mainland Singapore and Pulau Bukom, located off Singapore's southern coast.

The 200-passenger vessel comes with the promise of a cleaner and more efficient ride.

It can go at 21 knots, or nearly 40km per hour, which is “a lot faster than some of the other electric ferries that have been launched in Europe so far”, Mr Potter later told CNA938.

Each trip takes around 12 minutes, he said.

Shell said the vessel has a battery capacity twice that of most electric ferries of its size, while emitting less carbon dioxide, and no nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides.

The company estimates the electric ferries can save more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, equivalent to emissions from over 18,000 one-way road trips from Singapore to Bangkok.

Mr Potter said the idea for the electric ferry fleet came about as the firm’s previous fleet was up for renewal a few years ago, and they wanted to challenge themselves to do things differently.

Singapore's Transport Minister S Iswaran called the launch of the ferry a significant milestone in the country's decarbonisation efforts. 

“This early initiative can serve as a pathfinder for the maritime sector, as the sector gears up to fulfil MPA’s (Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore) requirement for new harbour craft operating in our port waters to be fully electric, capable of using B100 biofuels or be compatible with net zero fuels by 2030," he said.

GROWING MOMENTUM TO GREEN THE SECTOR

MPA is working with Shell to make its charging facilities available to other electric harbour craft in the future, while the company is also exploring the feasibility of expanding its shore charging infrastructure on Pulau Bukom.

The agency said there is growing momentum to green the maritime sector, and is also working closely with Enterprise Singapore, industry players and various research agencies to develop a national e-harbour craft charging standard.

More sites are also being identified for e-charging pilot trials for vessels as part of the charging infrastructure master plan, said MPA.

These will be rolled out progressively from 2025 to support the electrification of the maritime sector.

On Monday, Shell and MPA also inked a five-year deal to further Singapore's green plan in the sector, including research and development of low and zero-carbon fuels, testing hydrogen fuel cells on Shell vessels, and training more crew to handle the electric harbour craft.