Crowley Maritime Corporation has taken delivery of the LNG bunkering barge Progress, which the company claims is the largest US Jones Act-compliant vessel of its kind. Construction of the barge was undertaken at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
Progress will provide LNG bunkering services for ship operators at the Port of Savannah, Georgia, upon final commissioning there. Shell NA LNG has signed a long-term agreement with Crowley to operate the barge, providing another fuelling location to ships using LNG.
Designed by Crowley’s engineering services group, the 416-foot (127-metre) barge has a total capacity of 12,000 cubic metres (420,000 cubic feet). The vessel is equipped with systems developed by Shell and Crowley’s engineering services group to flexibly deliver LNG to various types of containment systems.
Progress is the second Jones Act-compliant bunker barge Shell has under a time charter in the United States. The barge will be operated primarily on the US East Coast.