The following is the text of a news release from Shell:
(HOUSTON) — Shell Trading Co. announced Tuesday it has finalized a long-term charter agreement with Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport LLC (Q-LNG Transport) for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barge with the capacity to carry 4,000 cubic meters of fuel. As the first of its kind to be based in the United States, the oceangoing bunker barge will supply LNG to marine customers along the southern East Coast of the U.S. and support growing cruise line demand for LNG marine fuel.
"This investment in LNG as a marine fuel for the U.S. will provide the shipping industry with a fuel that helps meet tougher emissions regulations from 2020," said Maarten Wetselaar, integrated gas and new energies director at Shell. "Our commitment in the Americas builds on Shell's existing LNG bunkering activities in Singapore and Europe, as well as recently announced plans in the Middle East and gives us the ability to deliver LNG as a marine fuel to customers around the world."
The LNG bunker barge will be owned and built by Q-LNG Transport and operated by Harvey Gulf International Marine LLC. With its pioneering design and delivery capabilities, the LNG bunker barge will be highly efficient and maneuverable and feature an innovative transfer system enabling it to load LNG from big or small terminals and bunker a variety of customers.
More shipowners and operators are choosing cleaner-burning LNG fuel over traditional marine fuels to respond to sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions regulations, including the International Maritime Organization's recent decision to implement a global 0.5 percent sulfur cap in 2020.
Editor's note: Harvey Gulf's CEO, Shane Guidry, is 70 percent owner of Q-LNG Transport. Harvey Gulf owns the remaining 30 percent. Q-LNG has contracted with VT Halter Marine to build the 4,000-cubic-meter LNG articulating tug-barge, which will be designed for ship-to-ship and shoreside fuel transfers. The barge will be 324 by 64 feet, with a draft of 32.6 feet. The tug will be 128 by 42 feet, with a draft of 21 feet.
