Wärtsilä scores gig for NorthStar’s 2nd LNG bunker vessel

The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has won the order to supply cargo handling system for the second LNG bunker vessel that U.S. shipyard Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is building for NorthStar.

Wärtsilä will supply a new 103 metres long LNG bunker barge with a complete LNG cargo storage and handling system. In addition to the equipment scope, Wärtsilä will also provide the detailed design for the system as well as all necessary integration requirements.

The Wärtsilä scope includes:

• Four 1350 cubic metres insulated LNG cargo tanks;
• The cargo control system;
• Deepwell pumps
• A ship-to-shore transfer system;
• A nitrogen generator;
• All necessary safety equipment and systems;
• A custody transfer measurement system;
• The gas combustion unit.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (FBS) is building the LNG bunker vessel in Wisconsin for NorthStar Midstream’s unit Polaris New Energy (PNE); or, to clarify, for its affiliate PNE Marine.

This is the second of two such barges FBS is constructing for PNE. Therefore, Wärtsilä is providing the same solution for both.

The first barge Clean Canaveral will be delivered in December 2021. This latest order with Wärtsilä took place in November 2021.

The second barge will be able to load LNG from the major terminals thanks to an elevated manifold feature.

“When delivered, these two barges will be the largest LNG bunker barges in the U.S.,” said Justin Slater from Fincantieri.

“The North American maritime sector is increasingly turning to LNG fuel as a means to reduce its carbon footprint... Our depth of experience certainly adds significant support to this trend,” said Kjell Ove Ulstein from Wärtsilä.

Deliveries to the yard will start in November 2022.

The two barges will be capable of delivering fuel to both ocean-going and inland waterway vessels that run on LNG.