China has achieved new breakthroughs in building small and medium-sized liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships with the early delivery of a 12,000-cubic-meter transport and refueling vessel in Qidong City, east China's Jiangsu Province, on Sunday.
The ship, named Offshore Oil 302, with a length of 132.9 meters and a deck bigger than the size of a standard football pitch, can sail on both river and sea.
It is China's first LNG transport and refueling vessel that was designed and built according to the specifications of China's shipping classification giant, China Classification Society (CCS), and passed the construction inspection.
As the global green energy transition accelerates, more and more new ships are being built to be powered with LNG.
"Currently, our application for a transport and refueling ship with a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters has been approved. It is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2026. After it is put into use, it will provide supporting services for the Yangtze River Delta refueling center. In the future, CNOOC will establish a complete LNG business chain and continue to improve the integrated layout of the LNG refueling industry," said Wang Wei, deputy general manager of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Energy Development Co, Ltd.
As the fossil fuel with the lowest carbon content, LNG can achieve zero emissions of sulfur oxides, and reduce nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions by 90 and 25 percent, respectively, compared with traditional marine fuel.
It can help to slash the annual fuel cost by about 30 percent, with both environmental and economic benefits.
"Now, we fully own our own independent design and construction capabilities for marine liquid tanks, fuel tanks, and entire ships. Meanwhile, we continue to apply domestic high-end steel material, nine percent nickel steel and high manganese steel to the storage and fuel tanks of LNG ships, further consolidating China's leading position in the field of small and medium-sized LNG transport and refueling ships," said Lou Jiwei, deputy general manager of Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore and Engineering Co,Ltd.
In 2022, China's first LNG transport and refueling ship, Offshore Oil 301, was completed and officially put into use. Since then, the vessel has been continuously operating in the Pearl River Delta region in south China's Guangdong Province for more than 500 days, having completed multiple refueling services for international shipping. The refueling volume surpassed 60,000 cubic meters.
At present, there are currently nine LNG refueling ships under construction in the world, eight of which are designed and built in China.
It is expected that the global LNG refueling market demand will exceed 10 million tons by 2025. By 2030, the number is expected to reach 30 million to 45 million tons.
China makes new breakthroughs in building small, medium-sized LNG ships
