Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding delivers LNG bunkering barge

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(STURGEON BAY, Wis.) — Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has delivered Clean Canaveral, a 340-foot liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering barge, to Polaris New Energy.

The 5,500-cubic-meter vessel is the largest of its type ever built in the United States, and will soon be followed by another barge of similar size for an affiliate of Polaris New Energy as it grows its position in the domestic LNG bunkering market.

“We are really proud to deliver this important vessel on time,” said Craig Perciavalle, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding’s new vice president and general manager. “Thanks to the entire team here and all of the suppliers and partners who worked through the many challenges over the last couple of years.”

Attending the Dec. 3 delivery ceremony were representatives and family members from Polaris New Energy. Mac Hummel, CEO of Polaris, offered comments at the ceremony, as did Thomas Sullivan, senior vice president of operations for Polaris New Energy.

After thanking the team at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Hummel said, “And I recognize it’s not only all of you standing here today. It’s your families, it’s your loved ones, it’s your friends, it’s the local businesses that support the shipyard. It’s local officials that also lend their support.” Hummel then offered thanks for the continued support of the U.S. Coast Guard, American Bureau of Shipping, Vard for design services, and Wartsila for the LNG handling systems.

“When Northstar decided to enter the LNG bunkering business,” said Sullivan, “we reached out to several shipyards for bids. But based on our past experience with Fincantieri Bay, the incredible talent of the team that’s standing before me now, the welders, the pipefitters, the electricians, the paint crew, and everyone behind the scenes, my hope was we could come to terms with Fincantieri Bay. And thankfully we did that, because the work that you’ve done is incredible.”

In keeping with maritime tradition, Sullivan’s daughter-in-law Candyce Sullivan ceremoniously smashed a bottle of champagne on a portion of the ship to present Clean Canaveral.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is on contract to build a sister 5,500-cubic-meter barge for Northstar and Polaris, in addition to other new construction and repair work in the Great Lakes.

– Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding

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Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding photo
By Professional Mariner Staff