Yinson Holdings Berhad through a consortium participated in by wholly-owned subsidiary Yinson Green Technologies, has been awarded funding by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and Singapore Maritime Institute to develop, deploy and commercialise a fully electric cargo vessel with interoperable swappable battery infrastructure solutions for the Port of Singapore.

The consortium, called ‘Goal Zero’, received one of three grants awarded by MPA and SMI on 5 August 2021, with consortiums led by Keppel FELS Limited and Sembcorp Marine receiving the other two grants. MPA’s and SMI’s joint call for proposals, which was issued in September 2020, attracted strong interest from the maritime community with 73 companies and 10 institutes of higher learning submitting a total of 16 proposals. The three successful consortiums will embark on the research, design, build and operations of fully electric harbour craft over the next five years. The electrification pilot projects will demonstrate both commercial and technical viability of specific use cases for fully electric harbour craft.

YGT will spearhead Goal Zero’s overall programme management and commercialisation, while Singapore-based marine design engineering company Seatech Solutions International Pte Ltd is the lead of the consortium, developing the vessel design and system integration. The consortium is joined by Sterling PBES Energy Solutions as battery technology partner; Rina Hong Kong Limited Singapore Branch as classification society; Singapore Institute of Technology and Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine Singapore as institutes of higher learning and research institutes developing the digital twin. Goal Zero is also supported by industry partners Batam Fast Ferry Pte Ltd, Bernhard Schulte (Singapore) Holdings Pte Ltd, DM Sea Logistics Pte Ltd, Marina Offshore Pte Ltd, Kenoil Marine Services Pte Ltd, Lita Ocean Pte Ltd and Jurong Port Pte Ltd.

Yinson Executive Vice President New Ventures and Technology Eirik Barclay explained that Goal Zero aimed to solve some of the biggest issues faced by vessel owners and operators when it comes to the adoption of electric vessels.

“We are looking to develop a new ecosystem and business model that are significantly more sustainable for the harbour craft industry whilst simultaneously being more commercially attractive for vessel owners and operators. For example, swappable battery charging infrastructure could almost completely eliminate vessel charging downtime, and digital twin technology can improve efficiencies that bring down operational costs.”

Yinson Group Chief Strategy Officer Daniel Bong commented that Yinson was looking forward to working with consortium members to propel the future-readiness of the region’s marine port segment.

“It is Yinson’s desire to bring about a more environmentally sustainable marine transport network in alignment with our commitments to mitigate climate change. With the support of the Singapore government through this grant, we are excited to take this next step in our roadmap towards achieving a globally integrated green logistics solution.”

Ms Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive, MPA, said, “Electrification has the potential to accelerate the decarbonisation of our local harbour craft industry so we are pleased to support the joint industry- research consortium named Goal Zero led by Seatech Solutions Pte Ltd and its key commercial partner.

In other developments, Yinson is currently also working on Hydroglyder – a fully electric passenger craft which incorporates advanced hydrofoil technology. A full-sized working prototype of the Hydroglyder is expected to hit Singapore’s waters in 2022.