Sea Star Line Enters LNG-Powered Container Shipping
Time：2014-11-20
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According to a press release from Sea Star Line parent company TOTE Inc., NASSCO engineers placed the world’s first dual-fuel slow speed engine into the world’s first LNG- powered containership. The ME-GI large slow speed (two stroke) dual fuel engine represents cutting edge ship technology that joins cleaner and safer shipping within present cost structures. The 539-ton engine was built by Doosan Engine in Korea under license from MAN Diesel and Turbo.
Hull 495, the first of the two Marlin-Class vessels being built by NASSCO will be completed in early 2015. The design for the LNG-powered vessels won the Next Generation Ship Award in June at the industry’s biggest conference in Oslo.
NASSCO has been hard at work after taking delivery of the engines as well as the vessel’s massive LNG fuel tanks, which were also manufactured in Korea. While there is currently no video of the engines that were recently mounted in the First of the two Marlin Class ships, video of construction of the tanks at the NASSCO facilities provides a sense of scale of the project. The 3,100 TEU container ships will have tank capacities of 900,000L for each ship.
In 2015, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission control area (ECA) standards become effective off of U.S. coastal waters encompassing Caribbean maritime routes. The two new container ships allow Sea Star Line to lead the way for ECA standards compatible container shipping vessel emission control technology represented by the growth of LNG. In addition to its comparable cost to heavy fuel oil (HFO), using LNG as ship fuel reduces sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions by as much as 95 percent.
LNG also complies with IMO Tier III limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, has lower carbon content, and leads to a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 to 25 per cent. According to Tote executives, the ships will require less energy to travel the same distance and help preserve the environment.
In a concurrent and cooperative venture, Pivotal LNG Inc. and California-based energy group Wespac Midstream LLC formed a joint venture to build an LNG bunkering plant near the Jacksonville Port Authority’s Dames Point Marine Terminal. The Dames Point Marine Terminal is JAXPORT’s newest marine facility. The terminal is situated alongside the harbor’s main shipping channel.
The adjacent property, owned by the Port Authority, will be the site of a $30 million Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. The facility will allow containers to be more efficiently shipped via rail.
The container facility is part of a larger plan for overall JAXPORT improvements including deepening of Jacksonville’s main shipping channel as well as infrastructure rebuilds of some major berths. The goal is to be ready to accommodate the larger Panamax vessels expected once the revamped Panama Canal opens in 2015.
While there is a growing number of LNG bunkering stations at a number of major European ports, the LNG bunkering facility at JAXPORT is the first in North America. As the success of the two new Marine class LNG-powered Sea Star Line ships is revealed, more ships (some already off the drawing board) will soon follow. The proven performance as well as the favorable economics and decisive environmental advantages of LNG as part of cutting edge ship design signals the shift that is underway as the maritime industry slowly commits to LNG.