Jax LNG and Tote Services recently completed their first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering of a foreign-flagged vessel in the Port of Jacksonville, Florida.
Crews loaded 1,800 cbm or about 450,000 gallons of LNG from North America’s first bunkering barge, Clean Jacksonville, to the LNG-powered car carrier, Siem Confucius, according to a joint statement.
The operation took place at Jacksonville Port Authority’s (Jaxport) Blount Island Marine Terminal.
In preparation for the bunkering, Jax LNG worked with Tote Services to utilize the 2,200-cbm barge while also gaining acceptance from the US Coast Guard to perform the bunkering during all potential cargo loading conditions.
After loading at the Jax LNG facility located in the port, Clean Jacksonville maneuvered alongside Siem Confucius to perform the milestone fuel transfer, the duo said.
The Siem Confucius and its sister ship, Siem Aristotle are both Liberian-Registered. The vessels now regularly call on Jaxport to unload new Volkswagen Group’s cars and SUVs.
Moreover, the vessels feature 13 car decks and the capacity to carry up to 4,800 Volkswagen vehicles at a time. The ships have a 12,600-kilowatt dual-fuel engine from MAN Energy Solutions and two 1,800-cbm LNG tanks, each.
Jax LNG, a joint venture between NorthStar Midstream and Pivotal LNG, a unit of BHE GT&S, operates the small-scale plant with a 120,000 gallon per day capacity in Jacksonville while Tote Group’s unit Tote Services manages the LNG bunkering barge.
The Port of Jacksonville has become a true US LNG bunkering hub with Eagle LNG and Crowley but also Tote Maritime completing hundreds of operations in the port.
In addition, the Shell-chartered Q-LNG 4000 recently wrapped up its first commercial STS operation, also bunkering Siem’s car carrier Aristotle.