Singapore and Norway Put SG$2.7 Million and NOK 20 Million Into Greener Shipping Research

Singapore and Norway have opened their third joint research grant call on decarbonising international shipping, with SG$2.7 million available for Singapore-based research partners and up to NOK 20 million for Norwegian teams. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) launched the call as a combined pot worth roughly SG$4.8 million across both countries at current exchange rates.

The money is aimed squarely at technologies the two maritime nations say they cannot develop alone. The call draws on the research, technology and industrial capabilities of both countries' maritime innovation ecosystems to address shared technological and operational challenges, with results intended to travel — solutions must apply across international shipping, not just to domestic fleets.

What does the call actually fund?

The grant call sets out three priority areas:

• Alternative fuels and energy infrastructure — safer handling of alternative marine fuels, bunkering and fuel storage technologies, and charging infrastructure for electric vessels.
• Vessel energy efficiency and emissions reduction — technologies that improve vessel performance, optimise onboard energy use and cut fuel consumption.
• Digitalisation and greener shipping operations — voyage optimisation, just-in-time arrivals, autonomous operations and ship-port data exchange.

That third pillar signals where the sponsors see near-term operational gains: just-in-time arrival protocols and ship-port data exchange are among the cheapest routes to fuel savings available to carriers today, because they cut waiting time and idle emissions without requiring new tonnage.

Who can apply, and on what terms?

The structure is deliberately restrictive. Every proposal must involve both research institutions and industry partners from the two countries, a rule designed to keep the work anchored to practical industry needs rather than purely academic output. Selected projects may run for up to four years — a long enough horizon to move a technology from laboratory validation toward commercial deployment.

The funding is split by country: SMI will provide up to SG$2.7 million for Singapore research partners, while RCN makes available up to NOK 20 million — roughly NOK 7.4 million per project if the money is spread evenly — for Norwegian participants.

How did the partnership get here?

The call builds on the MPA-RCN Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2024 covering maritime research, development, education and training. That agreement formalised cooperation between two of the world's most consequential maritime administrations: Singapore is the world's largest bunkering hub by volume, and Norway operates one of the most advanced short-sea and offshore fleets, giving both sides complementary testing grounds for new fuels and digital tools.

This is the third Singapore-Norway joint call. Earlier rounds in 2015 and 2018 supported four projects across maritime energy efficiency, emissions reduction and emerging technologies — a modest hit rate of roughly two funded projects per round, suggesting the new call will back a small number of concentrated, well-resourced programmes rather than a broad spread of grants.

What it means for carriers and ports

For shipowners and port operators, the practical significance lies in the mandatory industry involvement. Bunkering infrastructure, electric-vessel charging and just-in-time arrival systems all require buy-in from the commercial side — fuel suppliers, terminal operators and carriers — to scale beyond pilot projects. By requiring industry partners in every consortium, the funders are pushing research outputs toward deployable infrastructure at Singapore and Norwegian ports first.

With shipping facing tightening emissions rules and uncertain fuel pathways, state-backed bilateral research of this kind is becoming a mainstay of decarbonisation planning. If the 2024 MoU continues to generate grant calls at the pace of previous rounds, shippers and carriers can expect further funded work on green fuels and port-side infrastructure in the years ahead.