Busan Port Achieves Korea's First Successful Simultaneous Methanol Bunkering and Cargo Handling Test

Securing Simultaneous Operations for Both LNG and Methanol, Leading Global Green Ports

Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced on the 7th that it had successfully conducted the nation’s first ship-to-ship (STS) methanol bunkering and simultaneous cargo handling operation for a methanol-powered container ship at Busan New Port on the 4th.

Busan Port Successfully Demonstrates Korea's First Simultaneous Methanol Bunkering and Cargo Handling Operation.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries established the “Plan for Building an Eco-friendly Ship Fuel Supply Chain” in November 2023 and has since promoted the acquisition of methanol bunkering vessels, construction of port infrastructure, development of bunkering procedures, and demonstration of simultaneous bunkering and cargo handling operations.

BPA is also supporting the methanol bunkering demonstration project by providing exemptions on port facility usage fees for eco-friendly ship fuel supply demonstration projects and checking safety regulations through a consultative body of related organizations.

This demonstration was conducted over approximately 11 hours at New Port Terminal 2 (PNC). The 103 Hyodong Chemi (2,367-ton class), designated as the first operator for the methanol bunkering demonstration project, successfully supplied about 3,000 tons of methanol to the ANTONIA MAERSK (16,000 TEU class), which was in the process of cargo handling.

With this, Busan Port has proven its capability to conduct simultaneous LNG bunkering and cargo handling, as demonstrated in August, as well as methanol bunkering and cargo handling operations.

In particular, shipping companies operating eco-friendly vessels prefer simultaneous cargo handling and STS bunkering operations to reduce costs, making the ability to conduct simultaneous bunkering and cargo handling an important indicator of future competitiveness for eco-friendly ports.

Kang Junseok, President of BPA, stated, “The success of this demonstration is an important achievement that proves Busan Port can reliably supply eco-friendly ship fuels such as LNG and methanol. We will continue to strengthen our competitiveness as a global green leading port by continuously developing infrastructure and technology to expand eco-friendly ship fuel bunkering in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.