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.
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
