Ziyun 1, a fuel supply vessel from theZhoushanarchipelago, approaches the Santa Vanessa, a large container ship with MSC at Shanghai’s Yangshan Deep-Water Port on Sunday.

Shanghai and neighboring Ningbo-Zhoushan ports completed China’s first cross-harbor fuel supply service for a foreign container ship on Sunday in a trial operation to further enhance maritime cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Santa Vanessa, a large container ship with MSC, received 1,000 tons of low sulfur fuel at Shanghai’s mega Yangshan Deep-Water Port from the Zhejiang Seaport International Trading Co based in the Zhoushan archipelago in neighboring Zhejiang Province.

The Ziyun 1 supply vessel transported the fuel from Zhoushan port to Shanghai and supplied the container ship in five hours before sailing back to the archipelago on Sunday afternoon.

“The trial operation expanded the fuel supply service of the Ningbo-Zhoushan port, while offering a wider choices to global clients to enhance the competence of the Yangtze River Delta ports with their counterparts in South Korea and Singapore,” said Dong Ping, deputy general manager ofthe Zhejiang company.

The Yangtze River Delta has the world’s largest clusters of ports -- the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is the world’s largest port, while Shanghai Port has become the world’s busiest container port.

However, the bonded ship fuel supply service of the region is lagging behind the other world’s leading ports such as Singapore and Busan.

The Zhoushan FTZ supplied over 4.1 million tons of ship fuel in 2019, ranking top in China and eighth in the world, while the Shanghai Port supplies about 2 million tons of ship fuel annually.

The maritime services of the Yangtze delta have a large potential to improve, said an official with the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Zhoushan.

Ziyun 1 and the Santa Vanessa

The innovative cross-harbor bunkering service, expected to be further extended, will largely enhance the supporting capability of the Shanghai International Shipping Center and the global competence of the Yangtze River Delta ports, the official said.

The Zhejiang FTZ aims to develop an international maritime service center based on the bonded bunkering service.

Bunkering refers to the supply of fuel to ships, including loading and storage. The term originated in the days of steamships when coal was stored in bunkers.

“The Shanghai port serves a large number of container ships, while the Zhoushan port has strong fuel supply capability,” said Tu Weifeng, an official with the Shanghai Transport Commission.

“The cross-harbor fuel supply will become a regular service under the cooperation of the two cities,” Tu said.

Ding Tao, deputy director of theZhoushan Harbor and Port Administration Bureau, said the joint practice between Zhoushan and Shanghai is expected to be further expanded to other ports in Shanghai and other shipping services.

The trial operation is also a demonstration of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, a national scheme that aims to break the barriers of the administrative division impeding the flows of products and commodity.

The Shanghai and Zhoushan governments along with the FTZs in the two cities collaborated and researched for a year to conduct the cross-harbor bunkering service.

The customs of the two cities have approved the services efficiently, while the maritime authorities improved the ship supervision measures. The immigration authorities have streamlined the certification procedures, while the transport authorities jointly safeguarded the fuel transport and fuel supply process.

Ziyun 1 come alongside the Santa Vanessa