LNG

US company Pilot LNG, the developer of the Galveston LNG Bunker Port (GLBP) project in Texas, awarded the front-end engineering and design contract for marine infrastructure to W.F. Baird Associates.

“It was imperative that the company selected to carry out the FEED works for the Galveston LNG Bunker Port has an excellent track record of successfully executing marine terminal projects,” said Pilot Chief Executive Jonathan Cook.

“Our selection of Baird is in recognition of their unparalleled expertise and commitment to engineering and designing safe, reliable and efficient projects and we are happy to continue to work with Baird as a preferred partner in GLBP,” added Cook.

Pilot has already filed regulatory applications with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other relevant regulatory agencies, possibly paving the way for a final investment decision in 2022.

According to the company, the main LNG storage facilities are expected to be located on Pelican Island in Galveston County in Texas.

Regulations

As international regulators tighten emissions standards, the maritime industry is increasingly turning towards LNG as the marine fuel of choice due to its significantly lower emissions profile and cost competitiveness.

Analysts said the Galveston Bay area was an ideal location to add LNG bunkering infrastructure.

It has more than 10,500 deep-water vessel visits per annum and over 133,000 tug/tow movements on the Houston Ship Channel, as well as being the nation’s fourth busiest cruise terminal.

“To further mitigate operational impacts, Pilot has chosen to utilize electric drives powered by electricity sourced 100 percent from Texas renewable energy, eliminating virtually all operating emissions related to the facility and likely making the GLBP project one of the greenest facilities of its type anywhere in the world,” explained Pilot LNG.

Baird will provide a variety of services to Pilot LNG, including design of marine structures, metocean modelling including storm surge and tidal currents, dredging design and dredged material placement analysis.

Pilot LNG said that Baird’s Houston office would lead the assessment with support from the company’s other North American and international offices.

“The GLBP project will provide one of the US’s largest industrial port complexes, comprising the ports of Houston, Galveston, and Texas City, with the infrastructure needed to supply clean fuel to the growing global LNG bunker market,” added Pilot LNG.

Pilot LNG, a US infrastructure company planning the first dedicated liquefied natural gas bunkering facility to serve the Texas Gulf Coast ports of Galveston, Houston and Texas City has signed a cooperation deal with GAC Bunker Fuels (GAC) for the supply of LNG.

The bunker terminal will be located on Pelican Island in the Gulf of Mexico with a final investment decision scheduled for the second half of 2021 and operations starting in 2024.

Pilot LNG and GAC have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA), which outlines the terms of the partnership.

It prepares the ground for Pilot to provide LNG marine fuel to GAC on a Delivered Ex-Ship (DES) basis for its customers in the Galveston Bay Port complex, as well as Galveston Offshore Lightering Area.

“The Galveston LNG Bunker Port will provide the LNG to supply GAC’s growing market for cleaner marine fuel, particularly as its customers seek economic ways to comply with tightening emissions regulations, including IMO 2020,” said Pilot LNG Chief Executive Jonathan Cook.

“The opportunity to work with such a strong global player like GAC is a very exciting step forward for Pilot and the Galveston project,” added Cook.

The facility infrastructure will be designed around floating liquefaction (FLNG) technology to be engineered, and constructed by Wison Offshore & Marine of Nantong in China.

The Chinese yard is best known for constructing the FLNG barge “Tango FLNG” built in 2017 and other floating LNG vessels.

GAC Global Director for Bunker Fuels, Nicholas Browne, said his company had a proven track record of more than three decades supplying quality marine fuels to the shipping sector.

“This agreement with Pilot will allow us to grow our portfolio of alternative fuels, with LNG as the cleanest and most cost-effective way for shippers to meet compliance,”added Browne.

GAC Bunker Fuels is the world’s only bunkering company with an integrated ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 certification for bunker procurement that also covers LNG as a marine fuel.

In September 2020, GAC acted as the bunker broker for the Swedish dual-fuelled vessel “Fure Ven” when it became the first non-US flagged vessel to bunker LNG in the United States, taking on supplies at the Port of Jacksonville in Florida.

Pilot has filed regulatory applications with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other relevant regulatory agencies, paving the way for a Final Investment Decision on the project in 2021.

As international regulators tighten emissions standards, the maritime industry is increasingly turning towards LNG as the marine fuel of choice due to its significantly lower emissions profile and cost competitiveness.

Analysts said the Galveston Bay area was an ideal location to add LNG bunkering infrastructure.

It had more than 10,500 deep-water vessel visits in 2019 and over 133,000 tug/tow movements on the Houston Ship Channel and is the nation’s fourth busiest cruise terminal.