JAX LNG bunkers NYK Line’s car carrier with LNG in Jacksonville

US based fuel supplier JAX LNG bunkered Japanese shipping company NYK Line’s car carrier Sakura Leader with LNG in Jacksonville, Florida.

PHOTO: The car carrier Sakura Leader and bunkering barge Clean Canaveral. Pivotal LNG

Polaris New Energy owned LNG bunker barge Clean Canaveral delivered around 800 mt of LNG to Sakura Leader through a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer.

It was the first time that the NYK Line’s vessel was bunkered with LNG in the US. The vehicle carrier was deployed to the U.S. East Coast from Japan.

Apart from Clean Canaveral, JAX LNG, a joint venture between NorthStar Midstream and Pivotal LNG, has access to another Jones Act compliant LNG bunker barge - Clean Jacksonville. The Act requires any goods shipped between US ports to be carried by US ships with American crew.

Classification society DNV’s data shows that the number of LNG-powered vessels in operation or on order has gone up by 142 since last year, to 388 this year.

This number will more than double in the next few years. A total of 837 LNG-powered vessels are registered as in operation or on order towards 2028.

LNG looks to be the preferred alternative fuel choice for car carrier owners. 109 of the 837 LNG-powered vessels registered in DNV's database are container ships, followed by crude oil tankers with 89. Containerships make up the bulk of the LNG-powered vessels with almost double the number with 211.

By Tuhin Roy

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