A Chinese vessel successfully carried out the country's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) refueling for a very large crude carrier (VLCC) at anchorage on Thursday.

The Chinese vessel, named Offshore Oil 301 which is China's first and the world's largest LNG carrier and refueling ship, docked at an anchorage of the Guangzhou Port in south China's Guangdong Province for the 8.5-hour operation.

It supplied about 6,500 cubic meters of bonded LNG for the 320,000-ton dual-fuel tanker Maran Dione -- a ship operated by the Greek company Maran Tankers Management and also the world's largest duel-fuel VLCC by tonnage.

"The refueled LNG can enable the tanker to keep sailing more than 10,000 nautical miles, capable of covering a voyage from Guangzhou City to Europe. This is the first time for China to conduct refueling for a very large crude carrier at an anchorage. Compared with that for port refueling, the operation environment for anchorage refueling is more complex, and the requirements for operation and safety management are higher," said Ye Di, marketing manager at the Guangdong Water Transport Clean Energy Company under the shipping giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation -- operator of the Chinese refueling vessel.

The domestically developed Offshore Oil 301, which is 184.7 meters long and 28.1 meters wide, has a maximum capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of LNG.

"It is a very very good solution, a strategic solution for supply LNG. It's a partner that has the ability and the capacity to provide us with a sustainable supply of LNG and also maintain safety," said Georgios Asteros, operations director of the Maran Tankers Management.

The use of clean energy in shipping can reduce pollution, thus the number of LNG-powered transport vessels in the world has seen a dramatic increase in recent years, which has catalyzed the development of the LNG refueling industry.

Source: CCTV

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