Page 47: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Nov/Dec 2017)

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GREEN SHIPPING tic Sea. The vessel is owned by shipowner Anthony Veder and ness around the Caribbean. Crowley Maritime, also based in

Sirius Shipping, and will be on charter to Skangas, a distributor Jacksonville, will soon be placing two LNG powered contain- serving Norway, Sweden and Finland. Skangas Chief Execu- er/ ro-ro vessels built at VT Halter, into service. These will be tive Offcer Kimmo Rahkamo offered in a prepared statement, served by another liquefaction plant, Eagle LNG (backed by “It is a valuable add-on to our existing bunkering methods of Texas-based Energy & Materials Group and gas supplier Fer- trucks and terminals along the coast.” Initially, the vessel load- us). Gas for this project, which could come on stream in 2019 ed LNG at the Skangas production facility at Stavanger. if all approvals are in order, and for possible future facilities,

In the U.S. marketplace, the frst strides have been taken by will come from Exxon. In the interim, when the two vessels

TOTE Maritime, which serves Jones Act routes linking the Pa- begin service in 2018, Crowley will be fueling from two cryo- cifc Northwest with Alaska, and Jacksonville with Puerto Rico. genic tanks, at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal in the port.

TOTE has deployed two NASSCO-built 3,100 TEU container- The recurring themes of the new business model are clear. ships, both with capability to be fueled by LNG, in the Puerto A Ferus news item explains, “The produced LNG will be

Rico (Jacksonville/San Juan) trades. Its Alaska division has an- transported to markets in the Caribbean and Latin America nounced plans to retroft two roll-on roll-off vessels for LNG for power generation. It will also be delivered to local and propulsion at the Seaspan Shipyard in Vancouver, with BC. regional markets, including marine bunkering and high horse-

MAN Diesel & Turbo undertaking the conversion. The retroft power applications for domestic consumption.” Crowley has to LNG propulsion, delayed partly due to scheduling changes in already been supplying LNG, in tank containers, to Puerto the wake of the “El Faro” sinking, will be completed by 2021. Rico, through its Carib Energy subsidiary, acquired in 2013.

Initially, the vessels are being fueled by LNG produced in a Carib Energy is positioned to take on project management

Georgia facility and then trucked to Jacksonville, in specially activities throughout the markets served by Crowley. While designed containers, where the carefully choreographed LNG Crowley has not yet ordered LNG transporting barges, it is bunkering operations take place under U.S. Coast Guard su- important to note that its wholly-owned naval architect, Jen- pervision. In the coming months, fueling will be conducted sen Marine, has created an ABS approved design for an ATB from a newly constructed 2,200 cbm LNG barge built at Con- combo capable of transporting 4,000 cbm of LNG. rad Shipyard. In late summer, TOTE Maritime’s fuel provider, In the not too distant future, barges based in Jacksonville

JAX LNG, has received a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from may also be supplying LNG to a new generation of cruise ves- the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for the operation of sels that will deliver in coming years and will serve European its waterfront LNG facility (which will include a small lique- and Caribbean markets. A deal already announced has fuel faction plant) and the approval to conduct barge-to-ship LNG for two of Carnival Corporation’s new LNG powered cruise bunkering operations. According to TOTE, “Barge-to-ship ships (set to deliver in 2020-2022) supplied by Shell Trading

LNG bunkering is scheduled to commence in early 2018.” through the new LNG ATB being built by Q-LNG and the

Harvey Gulf connection. Carnival brand AIDA, operating out

The Way Forward: looking past existing markets of northern Europe is already using LNG, supplied by Shell.

When it comes to LNG bunkering, fnancial complexity Once further approvals are in place, barges based in Rotter- matches logistical complexity. JAX LNG is a newly formed dam and Zeebruge will form part of the supply line for AIDA, company owned by Pivotal LNG (a wholly owned subsidiary and for Costa Cruises (also a Carnival brand) which also has of Southern Company Gas), and NorthStar Midstream, LLC placed orders for LNG powered vessels. (under leadership of Tim Casey from K-Sea Marine and backed Once stalled by low energy prices and the utter lack of infra- by funds that are managed by an infrastructure group within structure outside of a handful of shorter niche routes, LNG as

Oaktree, and Clean Marine Energy LLC). The principals of a fuel is gathering a full head of steam in global markets. Fur- the latter include the van Reesema family, best known for their ther propelled by the looming 2020 deadlines, that momentum investment in the Jones Act tanker “American Phoenix.” – regardless of what the price of oil settles at – is unlikely to

The barge “Clean Jacksonville,” in turn, is owned by Wespac be lost. If LNG isn’t the fnal solution for shipping, certainly it

Midstream, part of the Oaktree family, and Clean Marine En- is the vehicle that will take the waterfront ultimately to where ergy LLC. Mr. Casey, in a prepared statement, revealed the they want to go. That ship sailed a long time ago.

longer term game-plan for the Jacksonville JAX LNG busi-

Barry Parker

The Author ness, saying, “The facility will include a marine dock to load of bdp1 Consulting Ltd provides strategic and tactical bunkering barges that will deliver marine LNG up and down support, including analytics and communications, to the East Coast of the United States.” businesses across the maritime spectrum. The company

The Northeast Florida hub of the U.S. to Puerto Rico trades can be found online at www.conconnect.com is also emerging as the fulcrum for the LNG bunkering busi- www.maritimelogisticsprofessional.com 47

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