Crowley invests in Puerto Rico’s LNG-powered shipping

Crowley Puerto Rico Services, a Crowley Maritime unit, said that it has further solidified its commitment to Puerto Rico with the execution of a $48.5 million construction contract for a new pier at its Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In conjunction with the investment, the company and the Puerto Rico Ports Authority have also concluded a 30-year lease extension for the Isla Grande property, the company said in a statement.

The construction contract was awarded to L.P.C.& D., of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, and includes the development of a new 900-foot-long by 114-foot-wide concrete pier and all associated dredging needed to accommodate Crowley’s two new LNG-powered, Commitment Class ships. Crowley’s terminal expansion plans also include the installation of three new ship-to-shore container gantry cranes, which will be supplied under a separate contract.

The pier design, using the latest displacement-based performance criteria, has been carefully developed over the past year with the PRPA and Harbor Consulting Engineers of Seattle, Washington.

Construction is expected to be complete in April 2017, in advance of the inaugural call of the first new Commitment Class ship, El Coqui.

The LNG-powered combination container – Roll-On/Roll-Off (ConRo) ship designed to travel at speeds up to 22 knots and carry containers ranging in size from 20-foot standard to 53-foot-long, 102-inch-wide, high-capacity units, along with hundreds of vehicles in enclosed, weather-tight car decking. The vessel will be built by Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Mississippi together with its sister ship Taino.