Shanghai Port reaches 2 million cbm LNG bunkering landmark

Shanghai Port has surpassed 2 million cbm (about 894,000 mt) of cumulative LNG bunker deliveries for the first time since launching its LNG bunkering operations in 2022.

IMAGE: PIL’s Kota Eagle receiving LNG stem at Shanghai. PIL

The milestone was achieved when Pacific International Lines (PIL) container vessel Kota Eagle received 4,549 cbm (around 2,033 mt) of LNG from SIPG Energy's LNG bunkering vessel at Lvhuashan Anchorage off Shanghai. A total of 355 vessels have been bunkered to reach this milestone.

Shanghai's LNG bunkering journey began on 30 January 2022, when 11 government departments, including the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce and the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, introduced trial measures for bonded LNG bunkering of international vessels in the Lin-gang Special Area, creating the regulatory framework for the pilot programme.

Less than two months later, on 15 March 2022, Shanghai Port completed China's first ship-to-ship bonded LNG bunkering operation for an international vessel, according to the Lin-gang Special Area authority.

The authority noted that it took four years for Shanghai Port's cumulative bonded LNG bunkering volume to grow from zero to 1 million cbm (around 447,000 mt) in early 2025, but only one and a half years to double that volume to 2 million cbm (about 894,000 mt).

Chinese authorities aim to transform Shanghai into an international green marine fuel bunkering and trading hub by 2030.

By Tuhin Roy

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