The "Stenablue Sky" LNG carrier, beautifully painted, is 286 meters long and 44 meters wide. [Photo/ WeChat account: zsmica]

A ship carrying over 130,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived at the newly-built LNG receiving and filling station in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province on Aug 7, making it the first LNG carrier to dock in the city.

The ship, named "Stenablue Sky", is 286 meters long and 44 meters wide. Departing from Qatar, it spent 16 days on its voyage before reaching Zhoushan, and is currently in the process of unloading 62,000 tons of LNG.

Since numerous preparatory procedures were necessary before the unloading, the ship is expected to finish discharging LNG and set sail on Aug 12.

The arrival of the ship also marks the completion of the first phase of the project for building the LNG receiving and filling station in Zhoushan, which will go into operation soon. 

The project, invested in by ENN Group (Zhoushan) LNG Co, a private-owned energy company, is China's first LNG receiving and filling station project that has received investment from a private company.

The station integrates multiple services such as LNG loading, discharging, storage, transport, refueling and emergent distributions, among which the refueling service is the first of its kind to be provided in China. 

After going into operation, the station is expected to handle three million tons of LNG a year, generating annual sales of 14 billion yuan ($2.05 billion). 

The second phase of the project, expected to finish in 2021, will increase its service capacity to five million tons of LNG annually.

"Stenablue Sky" arrives at the newly-built LNG receiving and filling station in Zhoushan on Aug 7. [Photo/ WeChat account: gh_37ccefdb17f4]