Port of Guangzhou Completes First Methanol Bunkering Operation for a RoRo Vessel

China Shipping & Sinopec Suppliers Co Ltd (SinoBunker) completed, on October 16 at the Port of Guangzhou, the first methanol bunkering operation intended for a roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel. The company supplied 2,300 metric tons of methanol, of which 1,400 tons corresponded to bonded green methanol.

The vessel bunkered is a new-generation vehicle carrier with dual methanol propulsion and capacity for approximately 7,800 vehicles. According to Manifold Times, the vessel is identified as Guang Rong, while Hellenic Shipping News refers to it as CM Guangzhou; in both cases, it is the first dual-fuel methanol RoRo vessel to berth at the Nansha Automotive Terminal. The vessel sailed with new energy vehicles manufactured in China bound for Europe, carrying more than 4,000 units according to Hellenic Shipping News, on its maiden voyage to the European market.

This operation follows previous methanol bunkerings carried out by SinoBunker for a bulk carrier at the Lantau anchorage on September 6 and for a container ship berthed at Nansha on September 28. With the bunkering of the RoRo vessel, the company completed, in around 40 days, methanol bunkering operations for the three main vessel types - bulk carriers, container ships and RoRo vessels - becoming, according to Manifold Times, the first marine fuel supplier in China with experience across all three segments.

Li Guanjie, deputy general manager of the bonded business division at China Shipping and Sinopec Suppliers, noted that the supply of green marine fuel in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has progressed from single-vessel pilot projects to a stage of multi-vessel, multi-scenario coverage. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), the company plans to build a standardized green marine fuel network combining methanol, biofuels and LNG, with scenarios including anchorage bunkering and simultaneous berth bunkering and cargo loading.

Yu Yang, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Jinyang Port Management Co, stated that the operation helps improve efficiency in exports of vehicles manufactured in China and that the port's annual export volume is expected to reach the target of 1 million vehicles. Between January and August, the value of Guangzhou's car exports exceeded 20 billion yuan (2.99 billion dollars), a year-on-year increase of nearly 60%, while exports on the Nansha-Europe route grew 2.4 times in the first nine months compared with the same period the previous year.