As the world's first LNG dual-fuel VLCC, Mt. YUANRUIYANG of COSCO SHIPPING Energy has attracted much attention. On the morning of March 3, Mt. YUANRUIYANG launched its maiden voyage and completed successfully LNG bunkering at the Malaysian anchorage on March 15, which accumulated valuable experience for the production and operation of the new green ship and laid a solid foundation for COSCO SHIPPING Energy to practice the "emission peak and carbon neutralization" goal of shipping.
Addressing Difficulties and Rising to the Challenges
At the beginning of the voyage, Mt. YUANRUIYANG was faced with great challenges. According to the requirements of the charterer, Mt. YUANRUIYANG would be bunkered with LNG at the anchorage in Malaysia. Since the ship was in a warm and inert state when sailing, it needed to carry out inert gas replacement and pre-cooling operations in the pipeline and fuel tank once arriving in Malaysia. The bunkering operation can be carried out only when the temperature of the fuel tank drops to -120 ℃. Facing the situation that there was no pre-cooling equipment such as gasification skid, the replacement and pre-cooling time was too short, the crew's operation authority for the parameters modified by the service provider was limited, and there was no experience to learn from, the company felt pressure, but they did not flinch at all. The company immediately established a ship-shore collaborative refueling technique team, held an emergency meeting, actively communicated with the charterer, discussed the refueling plan together, and conducted research and optimization for many times, Finally, the method of small flow spray pre-cooling of the spray pipe on the top of the LNG tank was determined, which was recognized by the relevant parties.
With the guidance and support of the company, Mt. YUANRUIYANG developed a detailed pre-cooling, filling, purging and inerting plan to clarify everyone's responsibilities and division of labor. A comprehensive risk assessment was carried out to predict the possible risks and minimize the them. The staff also became familiar with the whole operating system to ensure that there will be no human error in operation. The ship-shore connection system, LNG bunkering system and gas supply system were inspected and tested to ensure the normal operation of the equipment and no leakage of pipelines and valve groups; After dinner every day after setting sail, the chief engineer and the refueling personnel led by the chief engineer were guided to carry out emergency drills, simulate the "live exercise", and ensure that the relevant operators were familiar with the emergency handling methods in case of danger in the pipeline, refueling station, gas dome and gas supply room, and ensure that every step and every detail were safe; After the exercise, everyone sat together and then reviewed the exercise, pointing out the problems existing in the exercise to each other and studying solutions together. It was this fine and rigorous spirit and courage which overcame difficulties that laid the groundwork for a successful LNG bunkering.
Working Together to Overcome Difficulties
At 0800 on March 13, with the last cable tightened, Mt. YUANRUIYANG successfully arrived in Malaysia and completed the ship berthing and mooring operation. As soon as it got close, the ship-shore technical team had no time to rest. Under the remote guidance of the company, a filling coordination meeting was immediately held with the filling ship through the interphone to finally communicate and coordinate the filling details.
With hose purging, leak detection and hot ESD test, pre-cooling officially started at 1345. With the entry of LNG, the temperature of the filling station began to drop, and the flange was frosted instantly. On March 14, 0110, as the gas phase valve on the dome of 1# fuel tank slowly opened, the pressure was released to 2# fuel tank, and the temperature of 1# fuel tank slowly decreased. The temperature of the fuel tank finally fell to -120 ℃ at 2030, officially entering the bunkering procedure, the pump speed began to increase, and the pipeline pressure gradually increased.
As the new ship equipment has a certain running in period, in order to prevent accidents during filling, the company's technical team paid close attention to the whole process. The ship's Party group led the filling team to be on duty 24 hours a day. The deck watchman carefully patrolled along the pipeline and immediately reported any abnormalities. Under the guidance of the company and the concerted efforts of all the crew, the bunkering was completed on March 15 at 0330, and then after purging, inerting and HC measurement, everything was up to standard. Everyone completed the task that was impossible at the beginning as scheduled, and many crew members shed excited tears.
The Ship Team and the Shore Team Worked Together to Move Forward
From the difficulties at the beginning to the successful completion of the first LNG bunkering, they have overcome all the difficulties. The ship team and shore team of the company worked together and successfully completed the task, which has been repeatedly praised by the representatives of the charterers.
After the introduction of the plan, in order to ensure the safety, the company organized the crew to study the technical data, test the key equipment and drill the key operations. Under the guidance of the company, the crew tested the ESD function and the use requirements of protective clothing and explosion-proof measuring tools in advance. Since the management of BOG is a crucial link in the whole process during the pre-cooling replacement filling, the company instructed the ship to test and confirm the combustion function of the boiler mixed combustion mode many times before arriving at the filling anchorage, and conducted a simulated fault drill for the pipelines, filling stations, gas domes and gas supply rooms that are prone to problems, so that the engineers participating in the filling could clearly understand all the steps of pre-cooling replacement filling and improve the response control ability in emergency situations. After the refueling ship berthed, the shore kept monitoring and tracking the whole process, maintaining effective communication with the ship, discussing and solving the temporary situation jointly with the ship team, timely adjusting the operation of key nodes, and prompting the ship to sign the documents after refueling.
For the smooth operation of the company's first LNG dual-fuel VLCC, the company set the goal of picking up and driving the tanker, accumulating experience and cultivating talents for the company's dual-fuel tanker management from the beginning of picking up the tanker. For this reason, the company's supervision team and the ship receiving crew were meticulous and never let go of any small problems. The "three chiefs" of the ship put forward the requirement of "three levels of responsibility" for the crew, that is, to be highly responsible for the company, the safety of ship navigation, and the personal safety of the crew. In the more-than-7 months of ship delivery, the company's supervision team and ship receiving crew found a total of 1583 defects, all of which were reported for rectification, laying a solid foundation for the safe operation of the ship.
In order to master new technology and knowledge as soon as possible and achieve the goal of cultivating talents for the company, the crew practiced on board during the day and carried out theoretical training after returning to the hotel at night. Especially during the LNG bbunkering in the shipyard, while learning and observing, the crew recorded every operation step and action of the filling. After the filling was completed, it was unified and sorted out to form data storage, adding new momentum to green low-carbon shipping with craftsmanship and pragmatic style.
The grand spectacle of history is unfolded in the temper of time which waits for no man. Wonderful chapters should be written in the hard work of seizing every minute. In the journey of green and low-carbon, there will always be wind and waves. All ship and shore employees of COSCO SHIPPING Energy will turn the wind and waves into the driving force to promote the sailing forward, and continue to explore, forge ahead with a struggling attitude and an upward spirit, so as to write a wonderful chapter for the high-quality development of the company.
