LNG

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. the California-based supplier of liquefied natural gas made from waste to 540 filling stations across the US and Canada and to commercial customers, supplied fuel for the first bunkering with LNG of shipping group Pasha Hawaii’s new LNG -powered containership, the “George III”.

This was the first LNG bunkering of a container ship on the US West Coast.

Clean Energy said it worked with World Fuel Services and West Coast Clean Fuels to supply the ship with over 300,000 gallons of the clean fuel.

Pasha Hawaii’s “George III” is 774-foot containership operating between Long Beach and Oakland in California and Honolulu in Hawaii.

It is the first of three LNG-powered ships that the domestic shipping company is putting into service.

The three ships are expected to consume 105 million gallons of LNG fuel over the next five years.

“The air quality around the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles is some of the worst in the country because of in large part the very dirty marine fuels that have been traditionally used by containerships,” said Andrew J. Littlefair, President and Chief Executive of Clean Energy.

“The move by Pasha to add ships that operate on clean-burning LNG is one the most forward-thinking and environmentally-progressive actions taken in the maritime industry,” added Littlefair.

LNG fleet

“We congratulate Pasha on their first successful bunkering operation and look forward to many more as Pasha continues to add the other LNG-powered ships to their fleet,” he declared.

Clean Energy noted that LNG-powered ships achieve 99.9 percent reduction in diesel particulate matter and sulfur oxide emissions, 90 percent less nitrogen oxides and a 25 percent reduction in carbon dioxide compared to ships running on traditional fuels.

The LNG that powers the Pasha Hawaii container ships is supplied by the Clean Energy plant in Boron, California, the only one of its kind in the state.

Because of the increase in demand for LNG by Pasha and others, Clean Energy is in the process of expanding its Boron LNG plant by adding a third production Train, which will increase capacity by 50 percent when completed.

The “George III” is scheduled to bunker every second week at the Port of Long Beach.

The second Pasha ship to operate on LNG, the “Janet Marie”, is expected in late 2022. The third Pasha ship is expected to be deployed in mid-2023.

Commissioning

Before the LNG-powered vessel arrived at the Port of Long Beach, Clean Energy supported Pasha in the commissioning of the ship.

Clean Energy worked at the shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, to cool down the ship’s LNG storage tank to cryogenic temperature and then performed two bunkering operations to load LNG into the ship tanks.

The LNG was provided from Clean Energy’s Pickens LNG Plant in Texas. The company is a large-scale producer of gas fuel made from waste with its leading brand for vehicles being called “Redeem”.

Clean Energy’s largest shareholder is TotalEnergies, the leading European LNG market participant and project developer with a stake of 19 percent.

Clean Energy and UK major BP are additionally working on a joint venture to build on plans to finance and develop new projects at dairy farms in the US Midwest, Texas and other states to make fuel from waste.