US logistics and bunkering company Seaside LNG joins with cruise firm Carnival for LNG fuel hub at Galveston
US shipping logistics and bunkering company Seaside LNG has signed an agreement with cruise firm Carnival Corp. for re-fuelling services at the Texan port of Galveston.
US company plans China-built floating LNG project for bunkering at Galveston and other Texan ports
Pilot LNG, a US infrastructure company, said it had filed with regulators for the first dedicated liquefied natural gas bunkering facility to serve the Texas Gulf Coast ports of Galveston, Houston and Texas City.
The bunker terminal will be located on Pelican Island in the Gulf with a final investment decision scheduled for the second half of 2021 and operations starting in 2024.
“Pilot LNG has filed regulatory applications with relevant government agencies, including the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as the lead permitting agency,” said the company.
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 currently deployed at the port of Bahai Blanca in Argentina.
“Wison is pleased to be part of this breakthrough US project by designing and building the liquefaction unit, that will supply LNG to the end-user market in the Galveston, Houston and Texas City port complex,” stated Vivian Li, head of Wison Offshore & Marine in North America.
“Since delivering the world’s first FLNG facility currently operating in Argentina, Wison has developed numerous floating solutions across the LNG value chain, with a focus on promoting a cleaner energy infrastructure alternative to the global market,” she added
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.
“Pilot LNG’s Galveston LNG Bunker Port will provide clean-burning LNG to one of the US’s largest Port complexes,” said Pilot LNG Chief Executive Jonathan Cook.
“The proposed Galveston LNG Bunker Port would provide the necessary infrastructure to supply the growing market for LNG marine fuel, substantially reducing marine emissions and cutting shippers’ fuel costs at the same time,” Cook added.
He explained that the Galveston Bay area, which encompasses the industrial Ports of Houston, Texas City and Galveston, is 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.
The company pointed out that Emission Control Areas (ECAs), including US coastal waters and the Galveston Bay area, and the 2020 International Maritime Organization sulfur cap on fuel make it more difficult for traditional marine fuels to comply with regulations and more expensive for shipping companies to operate their vessels.
The company noted that LNG when used as a marine fuel significantly reduces vessel emissions, including eliminating virtually all sulfur oxide emissions without the need for expensive exhaust-cleaners or other technologies.
