A new dual-fuel pure car truck carrier (PCTC) with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles was delivered after it was named Yuan Hai Kou in Guangzhou's Nansha district on Thursday.

The vessel's maiden voyage will soon depart from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and head towards the Mediterranean route after it has been fully loaded with domestic cars.

The new vessel, constructed by Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) for COSCO Shipping Car Carriers Co Ltd, will play a role in promoting the country's automobile manufacturing industrial development, benefiting the countries involved in the country's Belt and Road Initiative, said a statement released by GSI on Thursday.

Yuan Hai Kou is the first large automobile transport vessel in China to obtain the CCS new energy symbol NEV Carriage (B, H, N).

Its design uses multi-layer fire separation, an explosion-proof ventilation system and fire prevention and control technology to build a more comprehensive safety barrier for new energy vehicles, including hydrogen fuel and lithium batteries during transportation, it said.

The vessel is equipped with a 302.8 kilowatt peak (kWp) distributed solar photovoltaic power generation system, which can continuously convert solar energy into electrical energy and deeply integrate with the vessel's existing power system to provide a stable and reliable power supply for the ship, according to the statement.

The annual power generation of the system reaches 410,000 kWh, which can flexibly realize the grid-connected application of solar energy on ships, effectively improving the diversity and stability of ship energy utilization, it said.

To improve the quality of life of the crew on board, the vessel has also successfully developed a new mode of "mobile vegetable garden" for ocean voyages, and innovatively designed containers on board that can grow fresh vegetables.

The fully automated planting cabinet integrates automatic irrigation, lighting, environmental monitoring and temperature control systems, truly realizing the deep integration of modern planting technology and ship space, said the statement.

The vessel is 199.9 meters long and has 12 car layers, including eight fixed and four movable ones.

Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration has optimized government services and regulatory measures to efficiently serve the maiden voyage of the country's largest photovoltaic energy + LNG dual fuel environmentally friendly PCTC.

Meanwhile, the administration will adopt the mode of "intelligent traffic management+unmanned aerial vehicle cruising+sea patrol vessel accompanying" to escort Yuan Hai Kou to start its journey to Greece, Turkiye, Italy, Tunisia and related countries involved in the BRI.

Located on Longxue Island at the mouth of the Pearl River, GSI is a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp and a Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed company. It is a major PCTC manufacturer in the country.