The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore has received 12 financing and seven insurance proposals in response to its expression of interest (EoI) launched to support early adopters of electric harbour craft (e-HC).

The proposals were submitted by both local and international financial institutions (FIs), financial intermediaries, marine insurers and insurance brokers.

The MPA has shortlisted the proposals from local lenders DBS Bank and United Overseas Bank, together with others from BNP Paribas Singapore, KfW IPEX-Bank Asia and Société Générale, to offer direct debt financing options for harbour craft owners. The MPA will work with these banks to further develop their solutions.

In addition to the strong interest from FIs, eight consortia have also submitted alternative financing proposals beyond debt financing to support the sector’s transition to e-HC.

The MPA and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) will also be working with interested FIs to explore onboarding them to the Enterprise Financing Scheme - Green (EFS-Green), with EnterpriseSG undertaking risk-sharing of 70% to support lending by participating FIs.

This initiative will potentially open more financing options for harbour craft owners planning on adopting green technologies and solutions for their fleet.

EFS-Green supports project developers, system integrators, and technology and solution enablers who develop ways to reduce waste, resource use or greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the sectors of clean energy, circular economy, green infrastructure and clean transportation. From April 1 onwards, this support has been expanded to include green solution adopters.

Seven insurance proposals were submitted by Income Insurance, QBE Insurance (Singapore), the Shipowners’ Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association Singapore, NorthStandard, Tigermar Global, Cambiaso Risso Asia and Lockton Companies (Singapore).

Related submissions indicated that the proposed insurance premiums for e-HC are comparable to that of conventional harbour craft.

In the next phase of the EoI process, the MPA says it will issue a closed call for proposals to further select the alternative financing proposals for implementation and will provide more details on the next steps in the second quarter of 2024.

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