Xiamen has completed its first ship-to-ship bunkering of bonded LNG for an international vessel, becoming the first location in Fujian province to offer the service.
The move places the port among a small group of cities in China – including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen and Guangzhou – with bonded LNG bunkering capability.
The operation represents another step in Xiamen’s wider push to upgrade its green port infrastructure, which in recent years has included expanded shore power provision and bonded biofuel oil bunkering. The addition of bonded LNG now fills a key gap in its clean-fuel offering, creating a more comprehensive service portfolio covering both biofuel oil and LNG.
Bonded bunkering for international vessels is often viewed as a key indicator of a port’s level of internationalisation and service maturity. Allowing ships to complete bonded LNG refuelling directly at Xiamen Port is expected to save at least one to two days of sailing compared with diverting to nearby ports, potentially drawing more international traffic.
The Xiamen Free Trade Zone said it will continue to promote the regularisation and scaling up of bonded LNG bunkering operations.
