First North American-built LNG bunker barge delivered
Built at Conrad Orange Shipyard, a subsidiary of Conrad Industries, the barge is the first non self-propelled barge in the US to have a GTT membrane LNG containment system and a GTT REACH4TM bunker mast, enabling ship-to-ship LNG transfer with a passive and fixed emergency disconnection system.
President and CEO of TOTE, Tim Nolan, said: “TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico is excited to utilise the Clean Jacksonville for our LNG bunkering. Our partners, including Conrad Shipyard and GTT, have been critical in our development of North America’s first LNG bunker barge.”
Philippe Berterottière, chairman and CEO of GTT, commented: “GTT has been honoured to play a key role in the successful delivery of this first US LNG bunker barge by Conrad. The broad collaboration between TOTE, Conrad, the myriad project stakeholders, and U.S regulators led to the successful design, construction and commissioning of this unique ground-breaking project. Beyond our traditional role of designing the cargo containment and other cryogenic elements such as the innovating REACH4 bunker mast, GTT adapted and expanded its support services to ensure the effective training of the barge crew and the safe and satisfactory execution of the barge commissioning activities and gas trials.”
Conrad Industries has five shipyards in southern Louisiana and Texas focusing on both ship repair and new construction. The company, headquartered in Morgan City, Louisiana, designs, builds and repairs tugs, ferries, liftboats, barges, offshore supply ships, LNG vessels and other steel and aluminium products for both the commercial and government markets.