Video: VT Halter Marine launches Crowley’s second LNG-fueled box ship

Crowley’s second Commitment Class LNG-fueled container/roll on-roll off (ConRo) ship, Taíno, has been launched at the VT Halter Marine shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Taíno will now proceed through the final topside construction and testing phase before beginning service in the U.S. Jones Act trade in 2018, the company said in a statement.

It will join the sister ship, El Coquí, which was launched earlier this year and is now in final testing prior to entering service in early 2018.

Taíno, like El Coquí, will be able to transport up to 2,400 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) and a mix of nearly 400 cars and larger vehicles in the enclosed, ventilated and weather-tight Ro/Ro decks. A wide range of container sizes and types can be accommodated, ranging from 20-foot standard to 53-foot by 102-inch-wide, high-capacity units, as well as up to 300 refrigerated containers.

The launch of the ship marks the latest of milestones in Crowley’s transformation and modernization of its shipping and logistics services between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, the company’s statement reads.

In San Juan, Crowley has begun operating three new, ship-to-shore gantry cranes at its Isla Grande terminal. The cranes complement new 900-foot-long, 114-foot wide concrete pier at Isla Grande. In addition, the company has expanded Isla Grande’s terminal capacity for handling refrigerated containers.

In Jacksonville, Crowley and Eagle LNG Partners also are completing final testing of the tanks and systems associated with the LNG Fuel Depot at JAXPORT’s Talleyrand marine terminal, which will serve as the fueling station for the new ships. The depot features two 260-ton, cryogenic LNG tanks, constructed by Chart Industries in Europe.