Crowley christens LNG-ready tanker

Crowley Maritime informed it christened the second of four new, Jones Act product tankers for use within the U.S.-coastwise trade. The LNG-ready tanker was christened at the South Florida petroleum terminal in Fort Lauderdale.

The 50,000 dead-weight-ton (dwt), 330,000-barrel-capacity Texas joins sister ship Ohio, which was christened by Crowley in November, as the first ever tankers to receive the American Bureau of Shipping’s LNG-ready level 1 approval, meaning Crowley has the option to convert the tanker to liquefied natural gas (LNG) for propulsion in the future, the company said in a statement.

Texas was constructed by PSINC (formerly known as Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc.), with construction management services provided by Crowley’s Seattle-based, naval architecture and marine engineering subsidiary Jensen Maritime. Two additional product tankers are being built by PSINC for Crowley and have planned deliveries later this year.

The new tankers are based on Hyundai Mipo Dockyards (HMD) design. Texas is 600 feet long and is capable of carrying crude oil or refined petroleum products.