Page 25: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2022)

GREAT SHIPS of 2022 perating on Lique? ed Natural Gas (LNG) from day one in service, the MV George III, the ? rst of Pasha Group’s two new ‘Ohana Class’, Jones

Act-quali? ed containerships, features a state-of-

Othe-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-ef? ciency rudder and propeller. George III is the ? rst LNG-powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the ? rst to serve Hawaii. The 774- ft. Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Or- ganization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels.

With the ? rst delivered and the second on the way, George Pa- sha, IV, President and CEO, Pasha Hawaii and Ed Washburn,

SVP, Fleet Operations, Pasha Hawaii, discuss the challenges and reward of building two new LNG-fueled containerships from scratch.

Earlier this year Pasha Hawaii welcomed the newest mem- ber to its containership ? eet with the arrival of George III at the Port of Long Beach in California, where it began its maid- en voyage to Honolulu, Hawaii. This is the ? rst lique? ed natu- ral gas (LNG) powered vessel to fuel on the West Coast and the ? rst to serve Hawaii. The 774-ft. containership was built in Brownsville, Texas, by Keppel AmFELS, marking the ? rst of two new Ohana Class containerships to join Pasha Hawaii’s ? eet, serving the Hawaii/Mainland trade lane.

Operating fully on natural gas from day one, the new

Jones Act vessel surpasses the IMO 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels, and energy ef? ciencies are also achieved with a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-ef? ciency rudder and propeller.

Named after George Pasha IV’s late father, the second ves- sel in the Ohana Class, the Janet Marie which is named after

George Pasha IV’s mother, was scheduled to join Pasha Ha- waii’s ? eet at the end of 2022.

While the project was ultimately a success, there were some

Image courtesy Pasha roadblocks to navigate along the way. Shipbuilding by its very nature is fraught with potential risks, premised mainly on the ery and commissioning of key equipment, some of which was lack of serial production which allows ef? cient manufactur- coming in from Europe and South Korea. “I would say that ers to work out the bugs. Building an original design with an was the largest obstacle.” increasingly common, yet still far from mainstream LNG fuel Another obstacle was not pandemic, rather regulatory, as system, raised the risk pro? le. “we’re the ? rst ship in the United States to be built to the in- “The biggest obstacle was building a ship during a global ternational gas fuel ship code,” said Washburn. “Our U.S. ? ag pandemic,” said Ed Washburn, SVP, Fleet Operations, Pasha state regulators had to interpret that code, and they interpreted

Hawaii. When the pandemic started, the shipyard starting it differently than the international market in some instances. to shut down because, at the time, “shipyard workers were We felt a little bit of pain on the interpretation on some rules not essential workers.” But The Pasha Group persisted, and that were different than the international market.” “through the Infrastructure Securities Act and together with As shipowners globally mull the alternative fuel future, he

American Maritime Partnership, we were able to contribute offers some insight on The Pasha Group’s choice of LNG.

to that act and include shipyard works as essential workers. “I would advocate for it, but don’t expect it to be easy. One

In addition, travel restrictions created havoc with the deliv- of the other challenges is fuel infrastructure? That’s always www.marinelink.com 25

MR #12 (18-33).indd 25 12/4/2022 3:41:08 PM