China News Service, Guangzhou, September 7 (Xu Qingqing, Chen Jiancheng) According to news from Huangpu Customs on the 7th, under the supervision of Huangpu Laogang Customs, a subsidiary of Huangpu Customs, the "Daqing 268" bunkering ship went to the Lantau Island Anchorage in Guangzhou Port on the 6th and successfully refueled the international sailing ship "GREEN FUTURE" with 1,021 tons of green methanol.
Customs officers from Huangpu Laogang Customs, a subsidiary of Huangpu Customs, supervise the green methanol bunkering business at the Lantau Island anchorage. Photo by Li Wanchan
According to Huangpu Customs, this is the country’s first green methanol bunkering business for an international sailing bulk carrier, and it is also the first time Guangdong has launched a green methanol ship-to-ship bunkering business at an anchorage, marking a new breakthrough in the development of the green fuel “production-storage-transportation-filling” supply chain in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. From January to August this year, the bunkering of various ship fuels at the Guangzhou Port anchorage increased by more than 114% year-on-year.
Guangzhou is accelerating the construction of a bonded fuel filling center for international shipping ships. The international shipping industry has an increasing demand for green fuel. As a new clean fuel for ship navigation, green methanol has the characteristics of low carbon emissions, convenient storage and transportation, and good combustion performance. It has become a new business direction of the current shipping focus. Previously, green methanol bunkering operations in the mainland were mostly concentrated in the field of container ships and ro-ro ships. Bulk carriers have a wide distribution of routes, highly random ports of call, and large single bunkering requirements, which have put forward higher requirements for the coverage density of methanol fuel supply points and the stability of cross-regional supply.
Lantau Island Anchorage is located near the main international navigation channel of the Pearl River Estuary and is an important maritime operation node in the Pearl River Estuary. Fueling and replenishment can be completed at the anchorage next to the main channel. This is an ideal "sea refueling station" for large heavy-loaded ships with deep drafts and inconvenient berthing, as well as transit ships that only need replenishment. "Carrying out ship-to-ship bunkering here at the anchorage can flexibly arrange supplies according to customers' sailing plans. There is no need for ships to specifically dock at the dock, and the service efficiency is higher." said Li Guanjie, deputy general manager of the Bonded Business Department of Sinopec China Shipping Fuel Supply Co., Ltd.
The "Daqing 268" ship successfully completed thousand-ton refueling at the Lantau Island anchorage, which means that my country's green methanol fuel supply chain has the ability to serve mainstream dry bulk ship types. The green fuel refueling service level of Guangzhou Port has also significantly jumped, providing strong support for more bulk carriers on international routes to switch to green methanol power in the future.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of this bunkering, Huangpu Lao Port Customs customized the anchorage bunkering supervision plan and coordinated with Guangzhou Port to reasonably arrange the operation plan. Huangpu Laogang Customs stated that in the next step, it will continue to focus on the development needs of green fuel bunkering business, further optimize the fuel supply supervision process for international sailing ships, improve maritime operation support capabilities, and better serve the green and low-carbon development of the international shipping industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
