The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles, with the support of C40 Cities, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a green and digital shipping corridor between Singapore and the San Pedro Bay ports complex to support the decarbonization of the maritime industry and improve efficiencies through digitalization.
The memorandum was signed by Teo Eng Dih, Chief Executive of MPA; Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Executive Director; and Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles. The signing was witnessed by Jonathan Kaplan, United States Ambassador to Singapore; S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations; Niam Chiang Meng, Chairman of MPA; Sharon L. Weissman, Long Beach Harbor Commission President; and Edward Renwick, Vice President of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission.
“No single port or organization can tackle the challenge of decarbonizing the supply chain alone, no matter how innovative their technology or robust their efforts. The establishment of this green shipping corridor between the San Pedro Bay Port Complex and Singapore will prove to be a living, breathing testament to the power of global collaboration,” said the Port of Los Angeles’ Gene Seroka.
C40 is the facilitator of the green and digital shipping corridor, providing support to the cities, ports, and their corridor partners by coordinating, convening, facilitating, and providing communications support in furtherance of the corridor’s goals.
As leading hub ports, Singapore, Long Beach and Los Angeles are vital nodes on the trans-Pacific shipping lane and key stakeholders in the maritime sector’s green transition. Ahead of the revision of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Initial Strategy for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships in July 2023, the three ports will come together with the C40 Cities network and other stakeholders in the maritime and energy value chains, to jointly accelerate the decarbonization of the maritime industry in line with the goals of IMO, and Singapore’s and the United States’ respective Nationally Determined Contributions.
The green and digital shipping corridor aims to support the transition to low- and zero-emission fuels by ships calling at Singapore and the San Pedro Bay ports complex. The parties will work to facilitate the supply and adoption of these fuels and explore the necessary infrastructure and regulations for bunkering. In addition to identifying and collaborating on pilot and demonstration projects, the memorandum aims to identify digital shipping solutions and develop standards and best practices for green ports and the bunkering of alternative marine fuels, including sharing experiences at international platforms such as IMO.
