Tag: LNG

Fireworks marked the first cut of steel in a ceremony last night as construction of TOTE, Inc.'s new Marlin Class, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered containership in the world, began at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif. "These ships, will be the most advanced, environmentally progressive vessels of their kind," state Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation said, "but they also represent $350 million in U.S. investment, 600 American shipyard jobs, and the bright future of the indispensable domestic maritime industry." TOTE's back to back announcements in 2012 - converting its existing RO/RO fleet in Alaska and investing in new containerships for the Puerto Rico trade, began what can only be described as a change of tide in the U.S. maritime industry toward LNG as the new maritime fuel. ­ Clean burning, LNG offers unmatched environmental benefits, reducing emissions below even the world's most stringent standards. The new Marlin class will create a reduction of sulfur dioxide (SOx) emissions by 98 percent, particulate matter (PM) by 99 percent, nitrous oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) by 71 percent over TOTE's ships currently operating in Puerto Rico. "The ...

Jensen Maritime, Crowley Maritime Corp.'s Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering company, has been awarded a contract to design some of the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barges in the U.S. for customer LNG America LLC, a Houston-based LNG fuel supply and distribution company. Currently no LNG bunkering barges are in operation in American waterways and these vessels will be among the first to be developed and built, marking a significant step in LNG America's build-out of LNG bunkering infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf Coast and in delivering a new clean fuel to the maritime industry. The vessels, which are expected to deliver in late 2015, have an initial planned capacity of up to 3,000 cubic meters of LNG.  Once in operation, the bunker barges will serve the dual purpose of moving LNG from LNG America's Louisiana supply source to coastal-based storage and distribution terminals and in directly bunkering large ships. "Through LNG America's LNG bunkering initiative, we plan to serve and facilitate the growing marine demand for LNG," said Keith Meyer, CEO of LNG America. "LNG America sees the demand for marine LNG to be robust as long as LNG can be made available to the maritime industry on ...

Totem Ocean Trailer Express (Totem Ocean) has announced that Wärtsilä will supply main engines, generators and integrated LNG storage and fuel gas handling systems (LNGPac) for the largest LNG conversions ever undertaken in North America. In making this decision John Parrott, President of Totem Ocean, cited Wärtsilä's proven technology as a deciding factor in selecting the company. Mr Parrott emphasized that "maintaining reliable, on time service is critical to Totem Ocean's customers as well as the economy and citizens of Alaska." The contract was signed in the fourth quarter of 2013, and executives from both companies met on February 17, 2014 in Tacoma, Washington to announce the project. "Today marks the beginning of a long relationship between our two companies," said Parrott. "Our relationship will outlast this project to extend over the 35-plus year life of our vessels." Totem Ocean's fleet of two Orca Class roll-on/roll-off cargo ships - M.V. Midnight Sun and M.V. North Star transport about one-third of all the goods required by the inhabitants of Alaska. Cargo includes essential items such as food, household goods, vehicles, construction materials and military supply support. As a result of the conversion, the Totem Ocean vessels will set new standards for ...

The world's first LNG driven tugboat (as claimed by port of Zeebrugge), the M/T Borgoy arrived in the port of Zeebrugge for a bunkering operation. The ‘truck to ship' bunkering operation was the first to be performed in the Flemish coastal port. The maritime sector is confronted with strict emission regulations, which results in an interest for LNG as a maritime fuel. This tug boat emits nearly 30 percent less CO2 and up to 90 percent less NOx and fine dust than conventionally-powered tugs. M/T Borgoy is the first of two identical tug boats ordered by the Norwegian BUBE (Buksér og Berging AS). The tug has left the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey and has set sail for Karsto in Norway to begin her long term operational contract for Statoil. To fuel up on LNG for her maiden trip, the ship makes halt in the port of Zeebrugge. The LNG fuelling operation was executed ‘Truck to Ship'. An LNG-filled trailer is then positioned alongside the quay and is connected with the ships fuel tank. For the port of Zeebrugge, this is an absolute premier. Joachim Coens, CEO Port of Zeebrugge: "This bunkering operation is of the greatest importance to the port ...

Swedish shipping company Erik Thun A.B. has granted Shipyard Ferus Smit the order for building an LNG powered cargo vessel, with 2 more units on option. The first vessel will be delivered in autumn 2015 from the yard in Westerbroek, Groningen. The Thun shipping company has a strong market position in Northern Europe and the Baltic area. To further strengthen her position as ‘green' fleet with the new SECA rules coming into force in 2015 for the Baltic, Thun believes LNG will be the way forward. For Ferus Smit shipyards it is a great challenge to build the first LNG powered short-sea dry cargo vessels to date. Many concepts and studies have been above the market already, but it will be down to the long-term cooperation between yard and ship owner to work out  viable solutions that can be profitable in daily use. The ships will be bulk oriented general cargo vessels sizing 5800 DWT, with the option to convert them into self-unloaders. They will be of iceclass 1A and suitable for year-round Baltic service. The vessels will be equipped with a Wartsila Dual fuel main engine and a pressurized LNG tank enabling round trips of abt. 2 weeks. Classification ...

Pivotal LNG, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources and WesPac Midstream LLC announced they have been selected by TOTE, Inc. to provide liquefied natural gas to fuel TOTE's two new state-of-the-art container ships in Jacksonville, Fla. TOTE's new dual fuel LNG container ships are expected to be delivered to the port in Jacksonville in late 2015 and early 2016. To move forward on this project, Pivotal LNG, Inc., WesPac and TOTE have signed a letter of intent and are working toward definitive agreements. While there is still work to be done, Pivotal LNG, Inc. and WesPac plan to work together on this project to create a joint venture which will develop a new liquefied natural gas plant in Jacksonville, Fla. "We are very pleased to have been selected by TOTE to supply their two new LNG container ships. We look forward to working with TOTE and WesPac to develop opportunities that help meet the growing demand for LNG as an alternative fuel solution in the Jacksonville area," said Stephen Cittadine, president of Pivotal LNG. AGL Resources, the parent company of Pivotal LNG, has more than four decades of experience in providing customers with clean, abundant, cost-effective LNG fuel. ...

In order to tap into Colombian stranded gas reserves, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corporation and EXMAR nv have partnered in a project to build and operate a floating LNG liquefaction, and storage unit, the Caribbean FLNG, which will be stationed at a jetty several kilometers off the Caribbean coast of Colombia for at least 15 years. In order to protect the hull of the Caribbean FLNG, keep it clean and facilitate class inspections over that time period without recourse to drydock and without causing harm to the local marine environment, EXMAR has applied an innovative glassflake, non-toxic, longlasting hull coating system, Ecospeed, on the vessel’s hull. EXMAR is a pioneer in offshore processing and storage solutions and this unit, the first of its kind ever to be built, presages a breakthrough in stranded gas monetization for the offshore oil and gas industry which promises to have worldwide application. LNG and stranded gas For economic and environmental reasons, global demand for natural gas as an alternative source of energy to traditional fossil fuels such as oil and coal has surged in recent years. Natural gas burns cleaner and therefore is responsible for reduced noxious emissions. If it can be produced and transported ...

DNV GL has released a position paper on the future alternative fuel mix for global shipping. While LNG is expected to be an early success, the picture becomes more diversified with time, as more than 20 per cent of shipping could adopt hybrid propulsion solutions, featuring batteries or other energy storage technologies. The main drivers for the use of alternative fuels are the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the need to meet upcoming air pollution requirements. “The global merchant fleet currently consumes around 330 million tonnes of fuel annually, 80-85 per cent of which is residual fuel with high sulphur content,” says Christos Chryssakis, senior researcher DNV GL and position paper project manager. “Shipping must change, and we must contribute technical measures, operational measures and alternative fuels to meet the environmental challenges we are tackling.” Electrification Technology to Come Over the next four decades, it is likely that the energy mix will be characterised by a high degree of diversification, says Chryssakis. "LNG has the potential to become the fuel of choice for all shipping segments provided the infrastructure is in place, while liquid biofuels could gradually also replace oil-based fuels." Electricity from the grid is most likely ...

TGE Marine Gas Engineering signed the contracts for one firm and three optional vessels for the design and supply of the cargo handling systems, high pressure fuel gas systems including LNG fuel tanks and tank material packages for the next generation of ethane/ethylene carriers of 35,000 m3 capacity with Jiangnan Shipyard Group. The ships were ordered by Navigator Gas Ltd. and shall be delivered in 2016. In close co-operation with owner and shipyard, TGE Marine has participated in the development of this new eco design based on slow speed dual fuel main engines. The ship is a 3 tank version with a maximum individual tank size of more than 12,000 m3 and will consequently be the world's largest type C tank based gas carrier. TGE Marine is currently developing conceptual designs for even larger ethane carriers. "We are delighted to have, once again, successfully worked together with Jiangnan Shipyard and Navigator Gas on this series of new ships, which may create a new type of commodity trade for large quantities of ethane from the US to Europe or Asia" commented Manfred Küver, TGE Marine's CEO. "TGE Marine and Jiangnan Shipyard have worked on joint projects for more than 25 years ...

INTTRA, a multi-carrier e-commerce network for ocean shipping, announced a strategic agreement with CSAV Group, to make INTTRA a preferred e-shipping platform for CSAV Group's customer base of shippers and freight forwarders. This enables CSAV Group to meet customer requests for easy access to INTTRA's collaborative e-commerce network-which handles 21 percent of global ocean container trade-and improve the customer experiences and operational efficiencies gained by overseeing shipments using a standardized, multi-carrier platform. "By making INTTRA's e-commerce capabilities and network available to our customers, we are accelerating execution on our top priority-to deliver the highest level of service by using the best technologies available," said Andres Kulka, commercial senior vice president, CSAV Group. "INTTRA has the innovative solutions and industry experience necessary to help us bring the benefits of e-shipping and automation to our global customer base. This agreement is a key element of our growth strategy for the digital age." Today's announcement expands upon a previous agreement with CSAV Group, which used INTTRA's Ocean IQ data quality program for a complete system analysis. This helped CSAV Group identify and diagnose high priority system integration opportunities, improve information quality and drive new efficiencies throughout their organization. CSAV Group serves customers within ...