Jensen Maritime selected to design some of first LNG bunker barges in U.S.

Jensen Maritime, Crowley Maritime Corp.'s Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering company, has been awarded a contract to design some of the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker barges in the U.S. for customer LNG America LLC, a Houston-based LNG fuel supply and distribution company. Currently no LNG bunkering barges are in operation in American waterways; these vessels will be among the first to be developed and built.

The vessels, which are expected to be delivered in late 2015, have an initial planned capacity of up to 3,000 m³ of LNG. Once in operation, the bunker barges will serve the dual purpose of moving LNG from LNG America’s Louisiana supply source to coastal-based storage and distribution terminals and in directly bunkering large ships.