The world's first compressed natural gas (CNG) carrier is delivered on Saturday morning in the city of Qidong, East China's Jiangsu province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

NANJING — The world's first compressed natural gas (CNG) carrier was delivered on Saturday morning in the city of Qidong, east China's Jiangsu province, before setting sail for Indonesia.

With a capacity of up to 700,000 cubic meters per voyage, the vessel will be used to transport CNG between islands in Indonesia for use by peak-demand power plants. The carrier, powered by natural gas, has a length of 110 meters and a design speed of 14 knots.

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The CNG carrier stores natural gas in pressurized containers at ambient temperature. Unlike liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, a CNG carrier does not need expensive equipment such as liquefaction facilities and regasification terminals.

As an important part of the natural gas industry chain, the CNG carrier will provide a new option for the transportation of natural gas. This delivery of the world's first CNG carrier is also expected to help explore the potential for maritime transport of hydrogen in the future.