Singapore to make digital bunkering mandatory from next April

Singapore will be the first port globally to implement digital bunkering at scale for all bunkering operations, the country’s senior transport minister, Dr Amy Khor, revealed at the show today 9 Oct. From April 1, 2025, all bunker suppliers will be required to provide digital bunkering services and issue electronic bunker delivery notes (e-BDNs) as a default. This announcement follows pilots conducted since last November with bunker suppliers, including the top 10 bunker players, in Singapore. 

“The digital bunkering process allows for efficient data sharing between bunker buyers and suppliers, which will help expedite administrative processes, improve accountability, ensure compliance with regulations, reduce the potential for errors, and support early detection of fraudulent activities,” the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) stated in a release today.

Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub, has tended to take the tech lead over rivals. For instance, it made mass flow meters mandatory years ago, something that European ports such as Rotterdam are only getting around to introducing now.

Singapore is by a very considerable distance the world’s preeminent bunkering hub.

To put the city-state’s bunkering dominance in perspective, citing 2023 bunker sales carried by Ship&Bunker, the republic sold bunkers last year equivalent in volume to the next six top bunkering areas in the world combined.