China‘s Guangzhou Port has completed its first simultaneous cargo and LNG bunkering operations (SIMOPS).

The container ship, MSC Thais, was bunkered with 3,000 m3 of LNG in a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer, Guangzhou Port Authority said in a press release on Monday.

The STS bunkering was carried out by LNG bunkering vessel, Haiyang Shiyou 301, at Guangzhou Port’s Nansha port area on November 1.

SIMOPS allows ships to conduct bunkering and cargo operations at the same time, reducing port stay and improving operational efficiency.

China has been ramping up its LNG and methanol bunkering capacity. Recently, the country’s first dual-fuel methanol bunkering was launched in Zhoushan.

“In the future, Guangzhou Port will explore a dual-mode operation of bonded + non-bonded, promote innovations such as cross-customs zone supply and one vessel, multiple supplies, and build a permanent LNG storage tank base in the Nansha Port area to gradually realize one port, multiple vessels bunkering,” the port authority said.