- The Taino and El Coqui first-of-their-kind vessels that use LNG as fuel, fueled at Jaxport by an Eagle LNG bunkering facility.
- The Taino can travel to Puerto Rico in 55 hours, less than half of the time of Crowley’s previous vessels.
- Vacuum-insulated fuel containers store the fuel at 260 degrees below zero.
- The Taino and the Coqui, are dual-fuel capable. If a ship’s LNG system fails, it automatically switches to diesel power.
Jacksonville continues to set the standard in the maritime use of liquefied natural gas says, business journal.
Maiden Voyage
Jacksonville-Puerto Rico shippers Crowley Maritime and Tote Maritime, both have invested in first-of-their-kind vessels that use LNG as fuel.
Crowley’s Taino, made its maiden voyage Tuesday. The Taino and its sister ship El Coqui are the world’s first LNG-powered vessels capable of carrying both containers and vehicles.
Port with the infrastructure
The ships are fueled at Jaxport by an Eagle LNG bunkering facility, which is also the first of its kind in the world.
“It put Jaxport on the map tremendously,” said Jaxport CEO Eric Green. “Other ports don’t have this capacity and infrastructure.”
Crowley and Eagle partnership
The Taino carries about 2,400 containers and 400 vehicles on the Jacksonville to Puerto Rico trade lane.
Crowley’s LNG vessels and partnership with Eagle were part of a $500 million, five-year investment in the trade lane. This investment is conditioned by global emissions standards on ships that become effective in 2020.
“We saw it coming,” said Crowley CEO Tom Crowley. “We were looking to the future.”
Groundworks for LNG supply chain
Setting up an LNG supply chain was no simple feat. Eagle had to develop its Maxville liquefaction facility, capable of producing 87,000 gallons of natural gas a day and storing up to 1 million gallons.
Then it had to set up its Jaxport LNG bunker on a less than 2-acre site, a significant challenge in the LNG world. That challenge necessitated a unique design.
Linda Berndt, Eagle vice president said, “this is the design that no one else in the world has”.
Advantages of Taino and Coqui
Eagle trucks its fuel from Maxville, 10,000 gallons a load, and fuels Crowley’s ships at a rate of 1,500 gallons a minute. The vessels top off at about 375,000, enough to make two round trip journeys to Puerto Rico.
Powered by an eight-cylinder engine that spans four stories, the Taino can travel to Puerto Rico in 55 hours, less than half of the time of Crowley’s previous vessels. Vacuum-insulated fuel containers store the fuel at 260 degrees below zero.
The Taino and the Coqui, which each span more than two football fields, are dual-fuel capable, so if a ship’s LNG system fails, it automatically switches to diesel power.
Crowley’s investments and plans
The company made significant investments in LNG services last year. In June, Crowley subsidiary Crowley Fuels significantly increased its number of LNG tanks, bringing its LNG export capacity to more than 20 million gallons; the company ships LNG to pharmaceutical and food and beverage clients in Puerto Rico, including AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV).
In April, Crowley formed a partnership with PowerSecure to supply LNG-powered microgrids throughout the Caribbean and Central America.
Crowley also told that it is exploring other trade lanes it can serve with LNG vessels, including its service to Central America.
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Source: bizjournals
