Jurong Port readies itself for greener, smarter future

The past year has seen Jurong Port ink deals and receive certification recognising its ability to handle the changing face of maritime

On 5 December 2018, Singaporean telecommunications company M1 Limited and Jurong Port signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide a terminal-wide wireless private network, which will assist in Jurong’s transformation into an advanced digital smart port.

M1 will develop a system based on heterogenous network technology known as HetNet – a wireless system that connects devices that use different underlying radio access technology – to enhance network coverage in the terminal and along the port’s berths, using a licensed 4G spectrum for the wireless private network.

The MoU was signed by M1’s chief corporate sales and solutions officer Willis Sim and Jurong Port’s chief commercial officer and chairman of the Technology Development Committee Desmond Lim.

Jurong Port’s vice president of information technology Sam Wei Hoong said “The heterogenous network solution is aligned with Jurong Port’s strategic technology roadmap and this partnership will further equip Jurong Port with the technological platform for the internet of things (IoT)/wearables endeavours and autonomous drone exploration.”

The port will benefit from M1’s wireless backhaul network connectivity to warehouses and access layer in individual warehouses. M1 will also provide enhanced 4G coverage and wifi network along the berths and 4G connectivity to the port’s data centre via a private access point name, round-the-clock monitoring and technical support.

Using licensed 4G spectrum to support the wireless private network removes potential interference issues and allows the port to use the private network’s security features for internal communications and transmissions, and to leverage cellular technologies for use case testing on smart applications, sensors, analytics and other IoT applications. 

M1’s chief technical officer Denis Seek said “In future, more IoT and smart solutions will be developed which demand greater reliability, much lower network latency and massive connectivity of sensors.

“Leveraging on our experience in deploying a private HetNet at Jurong Port on a dense cell grid architecture, we will be well positioned to harness exciting new 5G capabilities and pilot innovative digital smart port use cases when 5G technology becomes mature in the coming years.”

November 2018 saw Jurong Port awarded a Green Port Certificate as part of a programme under the Green Port Award System (GPAS) developed by the APEC Port Services Network (APSN).

The certificate was awarded at APSN’s Port Connectivity Forum in recognition of Jurong Port’s culture of environmental sustainability, use of infrastructure and building management system. This includes one of the world’s largest port-based solar energy generation facilities and the world’s first ‘green’ berth, built using sustainable construction methods such as recycled concrete made from crushed up and processed surplus from existing berths, and other environmentally friendly construction materials.

The programme is a green evaluation system for ports in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region. It assesses initiatives that improve environmental sustainability within the APEC port industry. Jurong Port earned the certification for meeting a set of criteria set by GPAS, including the three primary indicators of green intiative: commitment and willingness; action and implementation; and efficiency and effectiveness of green initiative, a set of secondary indicators defined by a list of reference standards.

This comes after the announcement in April 2018 that Jurong Port and FueLNG had signed a long-term terminal service agreement to provide port infrastructure and services to support berthing LNG-fuelled vessels for truck-ship LNG bunkering.

A joint venture between Keppel O&M and Shell Eastern Petroleum, FueLNG has chosen Jurong Port as preferred site to provide LNG bunkering services to its clients.

The signing event was part of the vessel naming ceremony of KST Liberty, Singapore’s first LNG-fuelled tug, held at Keppel Singmarine.