MacGregor, part of Cargotec, will supply two fixed-boom cranes that will handle the cryogenic hoses on a 5,400-m3 LNG bunker barge currently under construction at Wisconsin shipbuilder Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding
The MacGregor Rapp HP63-13F cranes will handle the hoses that transfer LNG from the barge to an LNG-powered vessel during bunkering operations. The hoses will be 19-m long and designed to handle 2,948 kg at 12.8 m and 453 kg at 19 m.
Being built for Polaris New Energy, a subsidiary of Northstar Midstream, the LNG bunker barge will be stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, when it is delivered in 2021. Plans call for the barge, fitted with four 1,350-m3 IMO Type C tanks, to be paired with an existing ocean tug in an articulated tug barge unit, to refuel LNG-fuelled vessels at ports on the US east coast. When it enters operation, it will be the largest capacity LNG bunker barge in the US. Polaris New Energy has options to build two more of the LNG bunker barges.
“MacGregor’s support prior to ordering was an important part of our design development,” said Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding project engineer Hugh Haggerty.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, and a proven reputation of delivering high-quality hose handling cranes to the US barge market,” said MacGregor senior vice president, global services division John Carnall. “These are the first hose-handling cranes that MacGregor will deliver to an LNG bunkering barge, and we have tailored the specification in close co-operation with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding’s engineering group to ensure the exact configuration for the owner’s hose-handling operations.”
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