PetroChina completed its first ship-to-ship bunkering of an LNG-powered container ship at the Shenzhen Yantian Port on Nov. 22, marking the start of offshore LNG STS bunkering business in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, South China, according to S&P Global.
The move is expected to play a vital role for PetroChina to expand its offshore LNG STS bunkering business in the country and contribute to the development of green shipping, it added.
The bunkering operation lasted for about six hours while a total of around 7,000 cu m of LNG was refueled on the containership, a 23,000-twenty-foot equivalent unit ship, owned by CMA CGM Group, according to PetroChina.
The STS bunkering can realize the simultaneous operations of loading/unloading and fuel bunkering compared with traditional bunkering, saving at least seven days of berthing time for ships, PetroChina noted, adding that this will not only improve the operational capability of both international ships and Shenzhen Yantian Port, but also enhance the competitiveness of Shenzhen as an international shipping center.
The LNG bunkering business in Shenzhen is operated by Shenzhen PetroChina International LNG Bunkering Co., Ltd, which is jointly owned by PetroChina Kunlun Gas (51%), a subsidiary of PetroChina's Kunlun Energy, Shenzhen government-owned Shenzhen Yantian Port Group (29%), and Shenzhen-listed Shenzhen Gas Corporation (20%), according to PetroChina.
The beginning of LNG STS bunkering service has made Shenzhen Yantian Port become the fourth hub port in the world and the first hub port in South China with LNG bunkering capability after Singapore, Rotterdam, and Shanghai, PetroChina's wholly owned subsidiary Kunlun Energy said on its social media platform.
Prior to this, China state-owned oil and gas major CNOOC, which is currently building international LNG bunkering centers in regions, including the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, put a transformed LNG transport and bunker ship into operation on Nov. 15, making it China's first and currently the world's largest LNG transport and bunker vessel, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported earlier.
CNOOC's subsidiary CNOOC Gas and Power Group also signed an agreement with Pavilion Energy and Gasum on Nov. 15 to strengthen a global LNG bunker supply network in the world's top three bunkering regions -- Singapore, Northwest Europe, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, and China's coastal areas.