Crowley has taken delivery of the largest LNG bunker barge in the Jones Act fleet, the Progress. The barge was recently launched and delivered at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Crowley will deploy the Progress to the Port of Savannah, where it will be chartered to Shell for refueling LNG dual-fuel vessels. An increasing portion of the world's container fleet is capable of running on LNG.
"The Progress LNG bunker barge sets a new standard for quality and capability to serve the energy needs of the shipping industry," said James C. Fowler, senior vice president and general manager, Crowley Shipping. "LNG offers a safe and reliable solution for ocean carriers that advances the transition to lower emissions."
Crowley's engineering services division designed the LNG barge in-house. The 400-plus-foot vessel can carry 12,000 cubic meters of fuel, and it is specially fitted to deliver LNG to ships with multiple kinds of onboard LNG bunker containment systems.
"Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding continues to be an industry leader in building LNG bunkering barges. We take tremendous pride in seeing another FBS-built vessel leave Sturgeon Bay to its new operational home port," said Jan Allman, VP and general manager of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.
The previous recordholding vessels were the sister barges Clean Canaveral and Clean Everglades, which both have a capacity of 5,500 cubic meters. Both were built by Bay Shipbuilding.
