Ownership
Shell sold the Bukom refinery and Jurong Island chemical units to CAPGC, a Chandra Asri and Glencore joint venture, on 1 April 2025; the site now trades under the Aster name.
Pulau Bukom is a restricted-access island about 5 km south of mainland Singapore, home to a 237,000 barrel-per-day refinery and an ethylene cracker. Since April 2025 the complex has been owned by CAPGC and operated as the Aster Energy and Chemicals Park, so process units create Zone 1 areas. If you are specifying an ATEX and IECEx smartphone for Pulau Bukom, this page covers the markings, the approvals and the current certification status of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. The SAMS IS-04Z1 is the intrinsically safe smartphone covered here for Pulau Bukom: pre-launch, designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), with certification in progress and no certificate issued.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Marking | II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 on the rating plate | Design target; not yet marked |
| EU-type examination certificate | Notified body number and certificate ID | In progress with TÜV; not issued |
| IECEx certificate of conformity | Number listed on the IECEx online register | In progress; not issued |
| Where it applies | Pulau Bukom: Refinery process units, Ethylene cracker, Crude and product tank farms | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Pulau Bukom Refinery. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
Who operates there and which kinds of classified area a handset would meet, from the SAMS site research.
Shell sold the Bukom refinery and Jurong Island chemical units to CAPGC, a Chandra Asri and Glencore joint venture, on 1 April 2025; the site now trades under the Aster name.
Access is restricted to personnel with security passes, and staff travel by ferry, so equipment is usually checked before the crossing.
Singapore's equatorial climate gives consistent heat and humidity with frequent heavy showers, which affects open-air process plant, tank farms and jetties year round.
Security passes are issued only to personnel working on the island, and a ferry from the Pasir Panjang ferry terminal, run by Tian San Shipping, serves it, so visitor transfers must be arranged in advance.
Pulau Bukom is a restricted-access island of about 145 hectares, roughly 5 km south of mainland Singapore in the Singapore Strait, with a small companion islet to its south.
Singapore's energy and chemicals sector is its second-largest manufacturing sector, so the island's refinery and cracker sit within a national cluster of more than 100 chemicals companies.
ATEX is the European legal framework for equipment used in explosive atmospheres (Directive 2014/34/EU). IECEx is the international certification scheme built on the IEC 60079 standards. Buyers outside Europe often ask for both: an IECEx certificate is the technical evidence most national regimes build on, while ATEX is the legal route into the European market.
For the IS-04Z1 both routes are in progress with TÜV in Germany and neither certificate has been issued. The marking target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4: equipment Group II (surface industry), Category 2 (Zone 1 gas), protection concept ib (intrinsic safety), gas group IIC and temperature class T4.
In Pulau Bukom. A procurement or HSE reviewer at Bukom would expect both ATEX and IECEx evidence for a handheld entering the process units, because contractors and visiting specialists arrive from several countries. The IS-04Z1 certification is in progress, so only a datasheet and draft schedule of conditions can be shared now; the operator decides which certificates it accepts.
A short checklist for anyone writing or reviewing the specification, with the IS-04Z1 status against each point.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
Not yet. Both routes are in progress with TÜV in Germany and no certificate has been issued. Any listing that says otherwise is wrong.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, ethylene cracker, crude and product tank farms, jetties. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Not exactly. Explosion proof is a broad everyday term; intrinsic safety is one protection concept, which limits energy so ignition cannot occur. Flameproof (Ex d) is a different concept that contains an explosion. The IS-04Z1 is intrinsically safe by design.
Yes. A 5 km subsea pipeline links Aster Bukom to Aster's chemical complex on Jurong Island, so the two sites run as one integrated operation. Expect shared safety standards between sites, but confirm site-specific rules with each location.
Aster describes Bukom as a fully integrated site focused on refining and ethylene production. That means crude units, cracker furnaces, tank farms and jetties, where Zone 1 and Zone 2 gas areas are typical. Exact zoning is set by the operator's area classification.
The site restricts access to personnel with security passes, and staff travel by ferry, so equipment is usually checked before the crossing. Ask the operator's security and HSE teams what device checks apply, and plan enrolment and charging before travel. Confirm the current process with the site operator.
More on Pulau Bukom Refinery, and on other places in Singapore.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule.