VT Halter Marine has launched Crowley Maritime Corp.’s second Commitment Class ship, Taíno, one of the world’s first combination container/roll on-roll off (ConRo) ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The launch of the ship in Pascagoula, Miss., marks the latest achievement in Crowley’s transformation and modernization of its shipping and logistics services between Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The new ships, together with port terminal improvements and technology upgrades, are designed to improve the overall velocity of the customers’ supply chains and speed products to retail shelves.
Taíno will now proceed through the final topside construction and testing phase before beginning service in the U.S. Jones Act trade in 2018. She will join sister ship, El Coquí, which was launched earlier this year and is now in final testing prior to entering service in early 2018.
Construction of both El Coquí, which is named for the popular indigenous frog on the island, and Taíno, the name for native Puerto Ricans who lived off the land and who had great appreciation and respect for their environment, is being managed in the shipyard by Crowley’s solutions group, which includes naval architects and engineers from company subsidiary Jensen Maritime.
Taíno, like El Coquí, will be able to transport up to 2,400 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) and a mix of nearly 400 cars and larger vehicles in the enclosed, ventilated and weather-tight Ro/Ro decks. A wide range of container sizes and types can be accommodated, ranging from 20-foot standard, to 53-foot by 102-inch-wide, high-capacity units, as well as up to 300 refrigerated containers.
Fueling the ships with LNG will reduce emissions significantly, including a 100-percent reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate matter (PM); a 92-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx); and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) of more than 35 percent per container, compared with current fossil fuels.
LNG Bunkering
In Jacksonville, Crowley and Eagle LNG Partners also are completing final testing of the tanks and systems associated with the LNG Fuel Depot at JAXPORT’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal, which will serve as the fueling station for the new ships. The depot features two 260-ton, cryogenic LNG tanks, constructed by Chart Industries in Europe.
Crowley, with 300 Puerto Rico employees, offers more weekly sailings in the market than any other shipping line.
Source: Crowley Holdings Inc.
