LNG

The northeast Caribbean island of Barbuda, one of two making up the tiny nation of Antigua and Barbuda, has signed an agreement with Florida-based Eagle LNG Partners for long-term supplies.

Eagle LNG said its agreement was with Barbuda Ocean Club in Barbuda to help the island to slowly rebuild after the Category 5 Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, while protecting its fragile natural environment and preserving its distinctive culture.

The population of Barbuda of around 1,500 people live in and around the village of Codrington.

“By transitioning to US natural gas for power generation, Barbuda Ocean Club is committing to low-carbon technology while also reducing local air emissions on the island of Barbuda, and will save millions of dollars in fuel relative to existing petroleum-based power generation,” said Eagle LNG.

“Transitioning to flexible natural gas driven generation also enables Barbuda Ocean Club to work with Eagle LNG to introduce further low carbon solutions including renewable generation to enable sustainable growth of development in Barbuda,” the Florida company added.

Eagle LNG said it would provide significant on-island storage and regasification to ensure supplies for extended periods should weather inhibit deliveries in ISO containers.

Since early 2018, Eagle LNG has loaded hundreds of ISO and trailers loads from its Maxville liquefaction facility for Crowley Maritime, the US shipping line which also has LNG-powered vessels,  and other clients.

“The turn-key, US natural gas powered solution for Barbuda is ideal for many areas for both industrial clients and island utilities,” Eagle LNG added.

Eagle LNG's Maxville  plant near Jacksonville in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 200,000 gallons per day.

The plant is located west of the port of Jacksonville and features a 1-million gallon storage tank and an LNG truck-loading system. The facility is also designed to load LNG ISO containers for transport to the Caribbean island markets.

Eagle LNG explained that it was enabling a fully turn-key solution for Barbuda inclusive of US natural gas, storm-resilient equipment and investment in power generation.

“We are pleased to partner with Barbuda Ocean Club on this important project,” said Sean Lalani, President of Eagle LNG.

“This project demonstrates our commitment to provide low-cost energy which enables economic growth and recovery in Barbuda and similar places,” added Lalani.

“Eagle LNG is committed to a low-carbon future, spurring economic recovery for the region as the world works to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and fostering closer ties between Florida and the US and our neighbors throughout the region,” he stated.

Eagle LNG said it was pleased to be a leading energy developer in the region and looked forward to providing low-cost, flexible energy solutions to numerous other clients.

“Partnering with Eagle LNG is the best solution for our members as well as Barbuda as a whole,” said Michael S. Meldman, Chairman and Chief Executive of US real estate firm Discovery Land Company, which offers family-oriented, adventure-style holidays on the island.

“We have made a major commitment to help the people of Barbuda preserve the health and integrity of the island’s natural environment,” explained Meldman.

“It’s a huge part of who we are and what Barbuda Ocean Club represents. Eagle LNG will allow us to provide dependable, sustainable electricity throughout our community while minimizing the impact upon the native environment,” he added.

“It’s a safe, clean source of power that will serve our community for many years,” stated Meldman.

The 18,000 deadweight-ton “Fure Ven”, a dual-fuel products tanker owned and operated by Furetank Rederi AB of Sweden, has become the first non-US-flagged vessel to bunker LNG at a US port.

Eagle LNG Partners, the US leader in small-scale LNG development in Florida and elsewhere, supplied the fuel to the Swedish-flagged “Fure Ven” at its terminal and fuel station at Jacksonville in Florida.

“This milestone paves the way for more international trading vessels to bunker at Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport), marking the latest tangible demonstration of LNG as a safe and reliable fuel solution,” said Eagle.

“It also builds confidence in the case for LNG to help the shipping industry meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations, while still generating substantial cost savings,” added the US company.

Furetank is owned by the Höglund family and is a founding partner of the Scandinavian commercial joint venture, the Gothia Tankers Alliance, comprising 32 vessels from various small shipping lines in sizes of 6,000 dwt to 37,000 dwt.

For the US bunkering operation, the vessel transited the St. Johns River and called at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal, which also serves the 7dUS shipping line, Crowley Maritime Corp.

“Eagle LNG Partners safely transferred 225 metric tonnes of LNG to the vessel from their on-site storage facility, with the bunkering taking less than seven hours to complete,” said the US firm.

“The tanker was laden with renewable diesel cargo for Preem, the largest petroleum and biofuels company headquartered in Sweden,” it added.

GAC Group, a global provider of logistics and marine services with Swedish heritage, assisted all parties by broking the LNG fuel and providing ship agency services to the vessel during her voyage across the Atlantic.

It was the first time that GAC’s Bunker Fuels division had secured a deal to supply LNG as a marine fuel.

The “Fure Ven” is one of Furetank’s V-Series, a new generation of product and chemical tankers introduced in 2018, which leverage innovative design features and LNG to deliver a fuel reduction of approximately 40 percent.

Furetank said these climate-smart vessels have also achieved substantial reductions in emissions.

“As early as 2014, Furetank decided to convert one of our vessels to LNG propulsion,” explained Lars Höglund, Chief Executive of Furetank.

“We note with pleasure that LNG bunkering is becoming available in more and more places, not least the US, and we are confident that investing in the V-series particularly contributes to a cleaner environment worldwide,” he added.

Sean Lalani, President of Eagle LNG, said his company was delighted to have been part of the re-fueling.

“As a pioneer in LNG bunkering and a global leader in small-scale LNG, the team at Eagle LNG is proud to have partnered with the trailblazers at Furetank and GAC, along with numerous crucial stakeholders including JAXPORT, Crowley Maritime and the US Coast Guard, to safely accomplish this first-ever LNG bunkering in the US of a non-US flagged vessel,” explained Sean Lalani

“It is only fitting that this first bunkering happens in Jacksonville where JAXPORT, local officials, and the community have embraced the shipping industry’s transition to the more sustainable, affordable LNG,” he stated.

Eagle LNG also praised the “pioneering spirit” of its partners at Crowley Maritime, with whom it has completed over 100 bunkerings in North Florida.

“We look forward to utilizing our experience and assets to bunker more international vessels from this facility and our future operations in the Caribbean Basin in the coming months and years,” Lalani concluded.

Eagle LNG Partners said the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had granted authorization for the siting and construction of its second proposed small-scale LNG export facility at the Port of Jacksonville in Florida.

US regulators have issued a positive final environmental impact statement for the planned small-scale liquefaction plant planned for Jacksonville in Florida by Eagle LNG Partners to supply customers in the US and the Caribbean.

US shipping and logistics company Crowley Maritime Corp. said its liquefied natural gas subsidiary successfully completed the first loading of a commercial ISO container shipment from the new Maxville facility in Jacksonville in Florida.