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Kolette Lim

Singapore’s ambitions to lead the world in green shipping are picking up steam, with a new agreement with China poised to enhance the city state’s decarbonisation efforts and cement its role as a key hub for alternative fuels.
The partnership, signed last month, aims to establish a digital and green shipping corridor between the two countries, and promote maritime decarbonisation, innovation and greater supply chain efficiency.
The deal could give Singapore a competitive edge by plugging it directly into China’s rapidly expanding clean‑fuel production ecosystem, at a time when Beijing is emerging as the key driver of global maritime decarbonisation, according to analysts.
“The arrangement will allow Singapore to build a strong supply chain with alternative fuels and be a major supplier of biofuel, green methanol, green ammonia and maybe even liquid natural gas,” said Jason Xu, director of the Maritime Energy and Sustainable Development Centre of Excellence (MESD) at Nanyang Technological University.
The large volume of shipping traffic between both countries meant that even small shifts to green fuels or improvements in operational efficiency would lead to substantial emissions cuts, said Liu Ming, research director at MESD.
Given that Singapore is the world’s biggest bunkering hub and home to the second-busiest container port, analysts say it is no surprise that the city state is leading Southeast Asia and even the world in driving green shipping efforts.
Singapore supplies over a sixth of the fuels used by global shipping, according to its Maritime and Port Authority, delivering a record 55 million tonnes last year. The country also supplied a record of over 1 million tonnes of alternative bunker fuels in 2024.
The city state has also signed memorandums to establish digital and green shipping corridors with countries such as South Korea, India and Japan, as well as major ports in Los Angeles and Rotterdam.
“Singapore is in a very strategic and unique position to push [for] maritime decarbonisation,” said Liu Nengye, a law professor at the Singapore Management University (SMU) specialising in ocean and sustainability law.
“It can help not only in decarbonising ship emissions, but also in developing infrastructure for the transport and storage of sustainable fuels, which are not widely available yet. Singapore is capable of becoming a global leader in this space.”

Long road to decarbonisation
Shipping accounts for about 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions currently, but this could rise to 5-8 per cent if no action is taken, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In 2023, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) set targets including net-zero emissions from international shipping by 2050. IMO is aiming for a 40 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 from 2008 levels, and for green fuels and technologies to comprise at least 5 per cent of energy sources.
To help those targets, Singapore last year supplied 1.34 million tonnes of alternative fuels, 880,000 tonnes of biofuel, 460,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas and 1,626 tonnes of methanol. Ammonia, which recorded a supply of 9.74 tonnes, was bunkered for the first time globally in the city state.
But progress in decarbonisation has been hampered by national economic interests and green solutions in their infancy.
For instance, oil producers such as Indonesia would find it a challenge to switch to greener fuels, said Ho Hiang Kwee, an adjunct senior research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, citing the protests after Jakarta removed a fossil fuel subsidy in 2022.
Experts note that shipping firms are facing a big challenge in plotting their decarbonisation pathway, given the early-stage development of green fuels and technologies.
Indra Overland, head of the centre for energy research at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, cited ammonia’s toxicity and flammability as an example, saying countries risked “betting on the wrong technologies”.
Lynn Loo, CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, said new and alternative fuels, such as ammonia and methanol, were significantly more expensive than fossil fuels.
Loo said an ammonia-powered ship would take about two years to build, and businesses had to factor this timeline into their risk assessment.
Other emerging technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, whereby emissions from fossil fuels are captured before being released into the atmosphere, are also expensive, and their technical feasibility is still being assessed, according to Loo.
“Unless the shipowners are convinced there is a pathway to get rid of the carbon dioxide, never mind it costs more, nobody is going to adopt it.”
Shipping firms, such as Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping and French giant CMA CGM, have signed agreements with the city state for collaborative efforts on exploring and advancing the use of green fuels and technologies. EPS also pledged to register six vessels with ammonia dual-fuel engines under the Singapore flag from 2026.
The global industry’s decarbonisation efforts also suffered a setback over a delay in the launch of IMO’s net-zero framework, under which a carbon tax would be imposed on shipping companies. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that voted in favour of the carbon tax.
Originally targeted for launch in 2028, 176 IMO member states, including Singapore, voted last month to delay discussions on the framework’s implementation by a year. When implemented, the tax is expected to raise US$10 billion a year to help developing countries transition to cleaner fuels.

China stepping in
With the US seemingly falling back into the era of fossil fuels, the spotlight has turned to China to help drive decarbonisation initiatives.
Overland told This Week in Asia he was confident China would make tremendous contributions to green shipping.
“It has already established a massive manufacturing capacity for clean technology and dramatically reduced costs, and its global contribution will probably grow even further,” he said.
Liu from SMU noted that Southeast Asian countries could potentially lean into China for technology and finance to drive sustainable shipping.
Malaysia on Monday reaffirmed its partnership with China on advancing its transition to a low-carbon and sustainable maritime industry, and Indonesia last year agreed to advance a tie-up where the superpower committed to support its transition to clean energy.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations last month upgraded its free-trade agreement with China, which is expected to expand cooperation in green and digital economies and sustainable supply chain connectivity.
But experts say it is not sufficient to rely on one superpower to drive sustainability.
As an import-dependent country, Singapore should maintain strategic relationships with China and other countries it buys low carbon fuels from, according to Liu from MESD. He also urged policymakers to push for the use of alternative fuels.
Experts also called on policymakers and regulators to impose enforcement measures and incentives to spur shipowners to decarbonise.
For ships which adopt green solutions, Singapore waives registration fees and tonnage taxes for those registered under its flag, and port fees for vessels which call at its port.
While the industry’s road to net-zero was “promising”, achieving it would require efforts from both private companies and policymakers worldwide, said SMU’s Liu.
“It’s not just on ships to follow rules, there needs to be checked when they call at a port by the authorities to make sure the ships followed the rules at sea.”


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How Singapore’s bid for green shipping leadership is gaining traction, with China’s help

Vessels with shipping containers are seen at Pasir Panjang port terminal in Singapore in October. The country supplied more than 1 million tonnes of alternative bunker fuels in 2024. Photo: AFP

A bunkering barge (right) supplies fuel to a container ship (left) with “green methanol”, which comes from low carbon sources, at PSA Tuas Port in Singapore in May 2024. Photo: AFP

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Sisters Alice and Vivian Zhou opted for sightseeing instead of shopping to stick to their travel budget. Photo: Kolette Lim 

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The deal with China will boost maritime decarbonisation and allow Singapore to build a strong supply chain with alternative fuels, analysts say


The deal with China will boost maritime decarbonisation and allow Singapore to build a strong supply chain with alternative fuels, analysts say.


How Singapore’s bid for green shipping leadership is gaining traction, with China’s help

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The deal with China will boost maritime decarbonisation and allow Singapore to build a strong supply chain with alternative fuels, analysts say

The deal with China will boost maritime decarbonisation and allow Singapore to build a strong supply chain with alternative fuels, analysts say