World’s first LNG-bunkering ATB launched

VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched Q-LNG 4000, which will be used by Shell Trading to fuel cruise ships and pure car truck carriers.

This 98.7-m barge has a beam of 19.5 m and depth of 9.9 m. It will carry 4.000 m³ of LNG in four 1,000-m³ IMO Type C cargo tanks.

Q-LNG 4000 will be connected to a new ATB tug, Q-Ocean Service, which is scheduled to be launched later in October.

Q-LNG 4000 is the first ever ATB built to distribute LNG fuel to ships and ports. It was designed for ship-to-ship transfers of LNG to vessels and ship-to-shore transfers for small-scale LNG distribution infrastructure in the US Gulf of Mexico.

It will be owned by Quality Liquefied Natural Gas Transport (Q-LNG), a joint venture of Shane Guidry, chairman of US-based Harvey Gulf International Marine (HGIM), who has a 70% stake in the company, and HGIM, which controls the remaining interest.

“Q-LNG 4000 is dedicated to delivering safe transit to all ships and ports it will serve,” said Q-LNG Transport chief executive Shane Guidry. “Q-LNG Transport is committed to being a leader in developing LNG infrastructure in the US and abroad. We are equally pleased that the ATB unit is Jones Act-compliant, meaning it was constructed in the US, owned by a US company and crewed by US seafarers under the US flag.”

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Shell Trading intends to use Q-LNG 4000 to deliver LNG as a fuel source to various ports in Florida and the Caribbean. It will bunker Carnival Cruise Line’s two new dual-fuel ships and two dual-fuel Siem Car Carrier pure car truck carriers chartered by the Volkswagen Group to transport vehicles from Europe to North America.

Q-Ocean Service tug will have an overall length of 39 m, beam of 12.8 m and depth of 6.4 m.

Propulsion will be supplied by two EPA-compliant, Tier 4 GE 6L250 MDC main engines that produce a total of 5,100 hp and drive two Wärtsilä nozzled Z-drives via Wärtsilä shafting. There will also be Wärtsilä Nacos Platinum dynamic positioning, navigation, communications and automation on the tug.

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