The Netherlands: LNG-powered hopper barge launched

LNG-powered hopper barge named “greenports 1″ has recently been launched at Shipyard Constructions Hoogezand Nieuwbouw (SCHN) in Foxhol, The Netherlands.

The 70.5-meter long barge will join the fleet of bremenports, the port managing company, during the second half of 2016, according to the company’s statement.

The vessel, that bremenports says is presumably the first LNG-powered working vessel at a European seaport, will be used to carry silt dredged from the harbour basins in Bremerhaven, Germany to the disposal facility in Bremen-Seehausen.

Under the €4.9 million order, the vessel still has to have its engine installed. The gas-diesel-electric propulsion system still has to be tested by Sandfirden, the engine supplier, bremenports said.

The vessel’s two tanks, each of which can hold six cubic metres of LNG, are currently being manufactured in Asia and are scheduled for installation in June.

Robert Howe, Technical Managing Director of bremenports, added that soon after the installation the tanks will be bunkered with LNG at the shipyard.

He also noted that the vessel, once in operation, will be bunkered at Bremen or Bremerhaven using the truck-to-ship bunkering method.

 

LNG World News Staff