Crowley Shipping and Shell Trading have started a trial fuelling a harbour and escort tug in California, US with low-carbon biofuel
They have partnered to use biofuel to power Crowley’s tugboat Veteran while it assists ships in the Bay of San Francisco.
Crowley said this fuelling contract between the companies “reflects their commitment to sustainable operations that decrease the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas impacts of maritime operations”.
Veteran is an escort tug with 5,070 kW of power and a bollard pull of 82.6 tonnes. It received its first bunkering of 109,000 litres of low-carbon biofuel on 9 March 2021 in San Francisco.
This is Crowley’s second asset to be bunkered with biofuel along the western coast of North America. Its articulated tug-barge (ATB) unit of tug Vision linked to barge 650-10 has been bunkered with biofuel from Shell since December 2019. This ATB serves the US and Canadian west coastal market.
“Using biofuel continues Crowley’s commitment to enhancing the safety, sustainability and reliability of operations as stewards of the waters and communities that we serve,” said Crowley vice president for commercial logistics and customer interfacing John Ara.
“Our customers benefit from cleaner services that reduce our impact on the air and greenhouse gases, helping lead our industry towards greater sustainability.”
Shell’s biofuel is lower in carbon intensity than conventional fuel, reducing gaseous emissions, such as CO2 and sulphur oxides. It runs Veteran’s and Vision’s main engines and generators and the ATB barge generators.
Crowley Shipping is the largest independent operator of petroleum tank vessels in the US, and a leading operator of harbour and escort tugs in US ports.
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