TOTE LNG-fueled containerships receive MARAD backing

TOTE Shipholdings and Saltchuk Resources said they have secured a $324.6 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) for their Marlin Class vessels.

The two new Marlin Class vessels, which will be the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered containerships, will serve the Puerto Rico trade and will be complete in 2015 and 2016.

This financing is made available under the Title XI Loan Guarantee Program. TOTE and Saltchuk qualified for this loan as the new ship build is an advancement in shipbuilding technology and being constructed at a U.S. shipyard. The new containerships are being built at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego, California.

More than 600 workers will be employed by General Dynamics NASSCO for the construction of the two Marlin Class vessels. Both vessels are currently being built and the first ship is more than 50 percent complete.

Press Release, September 23, 2014; Image: General Dynamics NASSCO