Shell to launch Singapore's first fully-electric ferry service

FILE PHOTO: Ships are seen anchored in front of a refinery on Singapore's Bukom Island July 6, 2014. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has ordered at least three electric ferries in Singapore to replace the diesel boats it uses to transport employees and visitors between mainland Singapore and its oil refining and chemicals plant on Bukom island, it said.

When the new boats are operational - slated for the first half of 2023 - they will be the first fully-electric ferry service in Singapore and a first for Shell globally, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Shipping's future will involve different parts of the sector using different fuels, and electrification is a solution to decarbonise short voyages, including port operations," said Nick Potter, general manager of Shell Shipping and Maritime for Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Shell awarded the contract to design, build and operate the ferries to Singapore's Penguin International Ltd.

Bukom in southwestern Singapore is the site of Shell's largest wholly-owned refinery with a capacity of 500,000 barrels-per-day (bpd).

About 3,000 ferry passengers travel the 5.5 km to Bukom each day, Shell said.