The First LNG Powered Vessel Passes Through Panama

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The First LNG Powered Vessel Passes Through Panama

Panama welcomes the US-flagged box ship named Is0la Bella, the first LNG powered vessel to transit Panama canal.

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Isola Bella is the first vessel powered by LNG to transit the Panama Canal.  The Panama canal welcomed the US-flagged box ship on 30 October 2015.

Vessel Information:

  • The cost spent for building the vessel amounts to $350m.
  • The boxship is 232 m long.
  • The vessel is capable of carrying 3,100 teu.
  • The LNG power reduces environmental pollution by reduced emission
    • Nitrogen oxide emission reduced by 98%,
    • Sulphur dioxide emission reduced by  97%,
    • Carbon dioxide emission reduced by 76%.

The Isola Bella will sail from Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico from the last quarter of 2015.  Following this a second Marlin-class vessel will be launched in the third quarter of 2015 and enter service in the first quarter of 2016.

‘The use of LNG as fuel in US defines a major change for the shipping industry, since the use of this fuel pollution to the environment is reduced by a large percentage, so that the whole world will benefit from the use of this product,’ Says Esteban Saenz,VP Panama Canal Authority (ACP).

Source: GNL Global