Decarbonisation options for Singapore’s maritime industry as electric harbour craft charging point trial starts

SINGAPORE: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Monday (Apr 8) launched the first pilot trial for an electric harbour craft charging point at Marina South Pier on Monday (Apr 8), providing the maritime industry with decarbonisation options.

This comes less than two weeks after the unveiling of X Tron, the first fully electric vessel transporting crew members from mainland Singapore to ships in Singapore’s waters, by local start-up Pyxis.

The charging point was awarded to a partnership between Pyxis Energy, Pyxis Maritime and SP Mobility.

It follows an earlier call for proposals to develop and operate electric harbour craft charging points at various locations under a two-year pilot scheme. 

Data insights from the charging point will be used to develop a national electric harbour craft charging infrastructure masterplan, implementation plan and national standards for charging infrastructure, MPA said.

“Pyxis’ fleet of electric harbour craft operating at Marina South Pier will serve as the base offtake to ensure optimisation of the charging infrastructure and enable comprehensive data to be gathered,” the authority added.

The 150-kilowatt (kW) charger at Marina South Pier can charge an electric harbour craft with an approximate battery capacity of 500kWh in around three hours and enable an operating range of about 50 nautical miles, or about 90km.

Users of the charger will need to scan a QR code using the SP app and make the payment via the app, similar to users of electric vehicles, MPA said. 

The authority added it is working with Enterprise Singapore, industry stakeholders and academia to develop a technical reference for electric harbour craft charging and battery swap system, with the draft ready for public consultation by mid-April.

By 2030, all new harbour craft must be fully electric, be able to use cleaner biofuels or be compatible with net-zero fuels such as hydrogen. This is part of a push for all harbour craft and pleasure craft to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the national climate ambition.