Tote Maritime Implements a Multiple System for Natural Gas Supply

Tote Maritime Puerto Rico has introduced a liquefied natural gas supply system that has been applied for the first time at the port of Jacksonville, Florida, to its vessel “Isla Bella,” the first container ship powered by this type of fuel. The ship refueled approximately 374,000 liters of LNG from 12 cryogenic tank containers, in an operation supervised by the U.S. Coast Guard and simultaneously with the loading of the vessel.

The supply of natural gas through a special structure has been developed by Applied Cryogenics Technologies (ACT) of Houston, a partner of Tote Maritime. The installation allows for the connection of up to four cryogenic tanks simultaneously and significantly reduces the operation time.

Until now, the supply of natural gas to ships from tank trucks had been done at a rate of one hour per tank, with a maximum flow of 40 to 45 cubic meters. With this new device, the total supply time is divided by four, which expands the possibility of operations from trucks to ships with much greater fuel capacity and that require short-duration stops.

Tote Maritime Puerto Rico welcomed the vessel “Perla del Caribe” at the end of January, the second of its kind powered by natural gas, built at the General Dynamics Nassco shipyard. Both will cover the service between the port of Jacksonville and San Juan, Puerto Rico, within the U.S. and Caribbean emissions control area.

Photo: Tote Maritime