On September 16, Nantong CIMC Energy Equipment Co., Ltd. and CIMC New Energy (Jining) Technology Co., Ltd., subsidiaries of CIMC ENRIC, formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the LNG ship tank swapping and energy replenishment project with Nantong Tonghai Port Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited (hereinafter referred to as “COSCO SHIPPING Ports”), in Nantong.
The partners intend to take the lead in collaborating to carry out multi-faceted cooperation in areas such as LNG ship tank swapping and energy replenishment and containerized tank overseas shipment in the Nantong region, creating an innovative cooperation model of “port + manufacturing + energy” to support a new upgrade in the “tank swapping and energy replenishment” capability for green shipping in the Yangtze River and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal waters.
The signing ceremony received high attention from all parties. Leaders including Wang Xiaoyan, Vice President of CIMC, and Sun Kai, Deputy General Manager of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, personally attended to witness the event. Xu Yongsheng, Assistant to the President of CIMC ENRIC Holdings Limited, Zhang Tianfu, General Manager of CIMC New Energy (Jining) Technology Co., Ltd., and Jia Yongjian, General Manager of Nantong Tonghai Port Co., Ltd., represented their respective companies in signing the agreement. Relevant leaders from the Nantong Transportation Bureau and Nantong Maritime Safety Administration attended the signing ceremony, reflecting a high degree of consensus between the government and enterprises on promoting the development of green shipping.
Currently, CIMC ENRIC has established mature port-based tank swapping and refueling capabilities. In January of this year, CIMC ENRIC’s “LNG Ship Power Fuel Tank Swapping Mode” officially entered the ship fuel supply market: it completed the “one-key tank swap” for the China Changjiang Shipping Group 2030-type coastal 12,500-ton green intelligent bulk carrier on the Yangtze River, with the entire process completed within 30 minutes. Furthermore, the company has also undertaken the construction of Guangxi’s first batch of mobile tank container LNG new energy ships, and is the number one supplier of clean energy power systems for inland river ships in terms of industry order volume.
COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited is a world-leading port logistics service provider, with its terminal portfolio spanning China’s five major coastal port clusters, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa.
The collaboration between CIMC ENRIC and COSCO SHIPPING Ports will promote a new upgrade in “tank swapping and energy replenishment” at ports in the Nantong region. Nantong Tonghai Port, as an important logistics hub in the Yangtze River basin, possesses abundant terminal resources and a logistics network. CIMC ENRIC will leverage its full-industry-chain intelligent manufacturing service capability of “manufacturing + equipment + intelligence + service” to assist in the construction of port-based tank swapping and refueling capabilities.
Prior to the signing ceremony, CIMC ENRIC organized an expert consultation meeting in Nantong for the “Jiangsu Province’s First Pilot Demonstration Project Plan for LNG Ship Tank Swapping and Energy Replenishment Along the Yangtze River”. Representatives from the Nantong Transportation Bureau, Nantong Maritime Safety Administration, Nantong Economic and Technological Development Zone Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, Waterborne Transport Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, China Classification Society, Wuhan University of Technology, CNOOC Gas & Power Group Jiangsu Branch, Jiangsu Zhongtai Testing and Inspection Co., Ltd. Nantong Branch, and Nantong Tonghai Port Co., Ltd., among others, attended the meeting.
The experts unanimously agreed to approve the plan and recommended refining and improving specific measures for the overall fuel replacement and /assembly process, key points for safety risk assessment, emergency plans, and related technical requirements based on the opinions of the attendees, to achieve safe, economical, and efficient operation of LNG tank swapping.
As the first pilot demonstration project for LNG ship tank swapping and energy replenishment along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, this project is not only conducive to improving ship operational efficiency and reducing operational costs but also an important measure to promote the large-scale application of green ships and build a “Water Transport Jiangsu”. In the future, by establishing an efficient clean ship energy service system, it will provide strong support for the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the achievement of the national “dual carbon” goals.
