Crowley’s LNG ConRo ships hit 25 pct completion mark

The construction of the first of two LNG-powered Roll-On/Roll-Off ships for Crowley Maritime Corporation’s liner services group has reached a 25 percent completion mark.

The two ships, which will be named El Coquí and Taíno, are currently under construction at VT Halter Marine, a VT Systems unit, Crowley said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Commitment Class ships have been designed to maximize the carriage of 53-foot, 102-inch-wide containers, which offer the most cubic cargo capacity in the trade. They will be 219.5 meters long, 32.3 meters wide, have a deep draft of 10 meters, and an approximate deadweight capacity of 26,500 metric tons. Cargo capacity will be approximately 2,400 TEUs, with additional space for nearly 400 vehicles in an enclosed Ro/Ro garage.

The main propulsion and auxiliary engines will be fueled by LNG.

The ship design is provided by Wartsila in conjunction with Crowley subsidiary Jensen Maritime, a Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm.

El Coquí and Taíno are scheduled for delivery in second and fourth quarter of 2017, respectively.

Image: Crowley