On April 22, Zhejiang Province's first ship-to-ship green methanol bunkering operation was successfully completed at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. This milestone extends the region's green methanol bunkering capabilities from shore-to-ship to ship-to-ship operations.

During the operation, the bunker vessel Daqing 268 supplied 503.214 metric tonnes of green methanol to the methanol dual-fuel containership Cosco Shipping Libra. The bunkering was carried out at Berth No. 9 in the Meishan port area using a simultaneous ship-to-ship mode, with stringent safety protocols including nitrogen inerting, pipeline leak detection, emergency shutdown systems, and gas monitoring enforced throughout. The entire operation was coordinated by Ningbo China Marine Bunker.

The Daqing 268 is a 7,500 dwt dual-fuel methanol bunker vessel with a total tank capacity of approximately 10,362 cubic metres. Cosco Shipping Libra is a 20,000 TEU-class methanol dual-fuel containership with an overall length of 399.8 metres.

This operation represents China Marine Bunker's first deployment of the ship-to-ship mode for green methanol bunkering at Ningbo Port. It is also the second green methanol bunkering operation completed at this port following a previous skid-mounted bunkering operation, signifying that China Marine Bunker has officially achieved dual-mode capability—skid-mounted plus ship-to-ship—at Ningbo Port, and has fully entered a new phase of “diversified bunkering solutions and normalized green fuel supply.”

The green methanol supplied for this operation was delivered under a bonded flow arrangement, utilizing a combined "export supervised warehouse plus bonded warehouse" model to address storage and transfer requirements. A responsible official from the Ningbo Port and Shipping Management Centre stated that this operation fills a technical gap in ship-to-ship methanol bunkering for Zhejiang Province and further enhances the integrated multi-fuel green energy bunkering system at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, which already encompasses LNG, biofuels, and methanol.

April 22 coincides with the 57th World Earth Day. The International Maritime Organization is actively promoting the uptake of clean fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry, and green methanol is one of the key alternative energy sources being advanced.

Green methanol is produced from renewable feedstocks such as biomass and waste materials. In contrast to grey methanol derived from fossil fuels, green methanol offers the advantages of renewable sourcing and significantly lower carbon emissions. It remains in a liquid state at ambient temperature and pressure, facilitating storage and transport. Its use does not require large-scale engine retrofits, and its combustion process virtually eliminates sulphur oxide and particulate matter emissions while achieving substantial reductions in nitrogen oxides.

Green methanol is increasingly favoured by major shipping companies. A number of large shipping enterprises are already adopting methanol dual-fuel solutions for their newbuilding programmes.