Last weekend marked the first time in PortMiami’s history that a cargo vessel, the Motor Vessel (M/V) Seaboard Blue, was bunkered at PortMiami using liquified natural gas (LNG) as a fuel. Shell, using its Q4000 bunker barge, filled the Seaboard Blue with LNG prior to its inaugural southbound sailing to Honduras and Guatemala.
The 1,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) M/V Seaboard Blue, previously known as the M/V Elbblue, was retrofitted in 2017 with the capability of running on both LNG and diesel fuel. The vessel was the world’s first container ship converted from conventional diesel propulsion to LNG. This Sunday, for the first time, the Seaboard Blue called PortMiami home and joined the Seaboard Marine’s North Central America service.
Ship owners and fuel suppliers are aware that LNG offers a low-risk, incremental path to decarbonization while providing quick and considerable local air quality gains as well as GHG compliance, as seen by the expanding multisector orderbook and ongoing building of infrastructure. The advantages also include a proven decrease in SOx and PM emissions.
Seaboard Marine’s adoption of greener sources of fuel is exemplary and a significant step towards our goal of keeping Miami-Dade a county on the cutting edge of sustainability
…said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The 1,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) M/V Seaboard Blue, previously known as the M/V Elbblue, was retrofitted in 2017 with the capability of running on both LNG and diesel fuel. The vessel was the world’s first container ship converted from conventional diesel propulsion to LNG. This Sunday, for the first time, the Seaboard Blue called PortMiami home and joined the Seaboard Marine’s North Central America service.
Eddie Gonzalez, President, and CEO of Seaboard Marine stated that he recent purchase of this LNG-powered ship not only demonstrates Seaboard Marine’s ongoing commitment to sustainability but also to providing reliable service to customers. As South Florida’s premier ocean carrier, they received support from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, PortMiami, Shell, the United States Coast Guard, and the Biscayne Bay Pilots.
