China News Service, Guangzhou, May 2 (Reporter Guo Jun, Chen Xiuhui, Shangguan Xin) On May 2, at the navigation section south of buoy No. 42 in the Guangzhou Port departure channel, the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) bunkering vessel “Hai Yang Shi You 301” safely passed a large vessel in opposite directions. This marks the first time in China that an LNG vessel has achieved a normal two-way entry and exit encounter with other vessels, signifying a crucial step for Guangzhou in implementing the “Guangzhou Nansha Overall Plan for Deepening Comprehensive Cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao with a Global Perspective” (referred to as the “Nansha Plan”) and in building a bonded fuel bunkering center for international vessels.
This initiative was jointly promoted by the Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration, the Guangzhou Port and Shipping Administration, and the Guangzhou Port Group, among other units. It completely breaks the previous limitations of “special control and one-way traffic” for LNG vessels, achieving “zero control, zero waiting for berthing, and zero waiting time” for bunkering operations, injecting strong momentum into Guangzhou Port’s development as a core承载区 of an international shipping hub.
As a low-carbon clean fuel, LNG is an important choice for the shipping industry to implement the International Maritime Organization’s sulfur cap regulations and achieve the “dual carbon” goals. For a long time, due to the special nature of LNG vessels carrying dangerous goods, international shipping rules and practices have imposed strict restrictions on their navigation. Chinese ports generally implement measures such as exclusive traffic control, one-way navigation, and advance declaration of navigation plans, strictly prohibiting random encounters with other vessels, which to some extent reduces the efficiency of LNG vessel entry and exit. Slow vessel turnaround and high bunkering costs have become bottlenecks restricting the development of the international LNG bunkering business.
To implement the deployment requirements of the “Nansha Plan” regarding “enhancing the level of international shipping services and developing high-end shipping service industries such as bonded fuel bunkering,” the Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration led the formation of a special working group. Jointly with the Guangzhou Port and Shipping Administration, the Guangzhou Port Group, bunkering enterprises, and other parties, over several months, they conducted in-depth research on international shipping rules and practices, carried out technical demonstrations, risk assessments, and plan simulations. Combined with the reality of the continuously upgraded channel grade of Guangzhou Port, they optimized the traffic organization plan, innovated the safety supervision model, and ultimately broke through traditional restrictions, promoting the realization of normal two-way encounter navigation between LNG vessels and large vessels.
With the service guarantees from maritime, border inspection, and other departments, Guangzhou Port had previously successfully achieved anchorage LNG bunkering and码头 LNG “ship-to-ship” bunkering. The implementation of this two-way encounter entry and exit bunkering marks the official activation and integration of the entire chain of “anchorage + terminal + channel” for LNG bunkering at Guangzhou Port, establishing a full-mode, full-time, and high-efficiency LNG bunkering service system.
The efficiency improvement has led to a significant reduction in costs. According to estimates, after the implementation of two-way encounter navigation for LNG vessels, a single vessel per single voyage can save 2 days of waiting time for bunkering berthing, reducing operating costs by approximately 610,000 yuan. Based on the forecast of international bunkering business volume, a single vessel can save nearly 30 million yuan in costs for bunkering enterprises annually. As the cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancement advantages of the entire chain continue to be released, it is expected to attract more enterprises with LNG bunkering qualifications to cluster and develop, potentially increasing the number of vessel port calls for operations by more than a thousand per year. (End)
