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AsianOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AsianOil

China claims ship-to-ship bunkering record

CHINA CHINA’S first domestically produced LNG bun- The giant ship will now be based at a port in
kering vessel, the Hai Yang Shi You 301, has set a the industrial Nansha district, in Guangzhou just
The bunkering operation record as the largest ever vessel to achieve a suc- to the north-west of Hong Kong.
was completed in cessful ship-to-ship bunkering. The status of the vessel as the world’s larg-
mid-January. The 185m long by 28m wide, 30,000 cubic est bunker-capable ship is being celebrated in
metre LNG carrier completed its bunkering on industry circles in China as demonstrating how
January 18, according to reports from eastern far China’s marine LNG industry has come in
China. recent years.
In doing so it was seen refuelling a 23,000- A statement released by the Guangzhou
tonne dual-fuel container ship called the Con- shipyard in which the vessel will now be based
corde at the south east Chinese port of Yantian referred to a great enhancement in terms of
near Hong Kong. regional competitiveness for the port.
The Concorde is a French-owned CMA General manager at the port Xie Junpeng
CGM vessel and part of the one of the world’s pointed to LNG as now the fuel of choice in
largest shipping fleets. replacing regular marine fuel oil. “Therefore pro-
CMA CGM ships operate in an estimated 160 viding LNG refuelling services for ships powered
countries with regular access to over 400 ports. by LNG is an important basis for boosting the
The bunkering was overseen by the China development of LNG fuel ships,” he said.
Classification Society (CCS) According to Xie, by following guidelines
The giant vessel has operated under the state- issued by the International Maritime Organiza-
run China National Offshore Oil Corporation tion (IMO) with regard to permissible carbon
(CNOOC) badge since late 2022, following an emission rates of new ships, LNG can signifi-
earlier conversion to give it the moniker of the cantly cut emissions rates.
world’s largest. Some estimates indicate this to be a figure
It was originally a regular gas carrier laid approaching 25%; a number backed up by Xie.
down in 2015, albeit the first wholly designed, CNOOC interests in large-scale bunkering
produced and operated by China. operations are now expected to be increased,
The roughly 12-week conversion was carried with some reports in China naming the port in
out by a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuild- Ningbo, just to the south of China’s commercial
ing Corporation, making the ship capable of hub Shanghai as the next target on the energy
refuelling at a rate of 1,650 cubic metres per hour, firm’s list.
a capacity that now allows for bunkering options CNOOC only started to develop its bunker-
involving heavy container ships, crude tankers ing business in 2018.
and large-scale fuel carriers. Three years later, the firm announced plans
Key to making the Hai Yang Shi You 301 the to design and build 50 dedicated LNG-powered
world’s largest bunkering vessel are the state-of- carriers with a 50-50 split between 2,000 and
the-art coupling and decoupling systems allow- 3,000 deadweight tonnage capacity.
ing high speed transfer through purpose-built Around the same time, the company also
cryogenic hoses according to experts. committed to converting up to 1,500 inland river
Of similar importance are ship safety sys- and lake vessels to being LNG powered, and to
tems, including distance to adjacent vessel or establish 19 dedicated bunkering facilities by
dock detection sensors. 2025. ™

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