July 21, 2023 [gasworld]- The Clean Canaveral liquified natural gas (LNG) bunker barge, the largest of its kind in North America, has completed its first barge-to-ship bunkering of a cargo vessel at Port Canaveral’s South Cargo Berth 4.
JAX LNG, along with Polaris New Energy, handled the LNG refuelling of the M/T Damina Desgagnés on the ship’s inaugural call to Port Canaveral.
Approximately 400 cubic meters of LNG were transferred during the procedure.
The barge-to-ship fuelling operation was closely coordinated between Port Canaveral, JAX LNG, US Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Canaveral, and Canaveral Fire Rescue.
GAC Bunker Fuels, the world’s only bunkering company with integrated ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 certifications for bunker procurement, which also covers LNG as a marine fuel, traded the LNG transfer.
Roger Williams, Manager of JAX LNG and Vice-President of Commercial LNG and Gas Development at BHE GT&S, the parent company of Pivotal LNG, said he appreciates the cooperative relationships that have been developed to provide cruise and cargo ships increased access to LNG.
He continued, “We look forward to continuing to work with all these stakeholders as we further increase LNG deliveries in Port Canaveral and other ports in the south-eastern US.”
LNG bunkering is just one method of transferring LNG to a ship for use as fuel. With the shipping sector typically using polluting fuels such as marine gas oil and heavy fuel oil, the move towards LNG for marine use seemed to emerge as environmental regulators began to clamp down on the maritime industry to reduce the amount of pollution cause by ship transportation.
The move was apparently hastened by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s strict rules on the content of sulfur in marine bunker fuel, driving the popularity of the LNG bunkering system, of which there are several variations.
Types of bunkering
In addition to the shore-ship method of bunkering, there is also truck-to-ship (TTS) transfer – the most frequently used bunker configuration – and ship-to-ship (STS) transfer.
Shore-ship involves the bunkering of LNG directly to a vessel from a tank or small station, or from an import or export terminal. If the terminal is not directly situated at the berth, pipelines from the terminal to the quay are required.
Due to the fixed nature of the pipeline and associated equipment, shore-ship is considered ideal for ports with stable, long-term bunkering demand. This also allows for a larger hose to be installed to increase the bunkering rate.
With the supply method being fixed, a downside of shore-ship refuelling is that ships cannot be bunkered while performing dockside operations. Instead, the vessel must visit static bunkering infrastructure, a difficult proposition when there is limited berth access for larger vessels.
According to data from Sustainable Worldports, this type of LNG bunkering is most commonly used for services with a high frequency, limited demand, less strict timetables and limited vessel draft. These types of vessel includes bunkering ships, tugs, inland shipping vessels, utility vessels, and fishing boats.
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