Some say it’s the future of the maritime industry, and Jacksonville is paving the way.
Crowley’s newest ship powered by liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is in Jaxport now preparing for its maiden voyage to Puerto Rico Friday night.
Named after a native frog of Puerto Rico, El Coquí, stretches about two football fields long.
Chairman and CEO of Crowley, Tom Crowley, said it took five years to get to this point.
“The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that LNG is going to be a viable clean burning fuel for the maritime industry, so this really puts Jacksonville on the map,” said Crowley.
Action News Jax got rare access Thursday to board the ship and see the state of the art technology.
The ship is the first of its kind to be powered by LNG.
On Friday it will sail with more than 300 cars and 750 containers of goods for Puerto Rico which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria.
The vessel’s chief mate, Jaime Torres, is Puerto Rican. For him, the voyage is personal.
“This run is very fulfilling, whether it's Hurricane Maria or not. It gives me great pride to be able to be here and help out,” said Torres.
Of the 21 crew about half are Puerto Ricans.
The new vessel can also get to San Juan faster. A voyage that once took six days now takes half the time.
“We’re speeding up the delivery of cargo making it more reliable and creating a much more stable supply chain,” said Crowley.
The LNG industry comes with extensive infrastructure including an LNG plant in Maxville, run by Eagle LNG Partners, and a fuel depot just feet away from the vessel.
“This is the largest ship refueling facility in the world for utilizing LNG, and it’ll provide many many years of clean burning fuel,” said Crowley.
The Maxville plant provides seven direct jobs.
By making the switch to LNG, Crowley is ahead of the curve before the new environmental regulations come out in 2020.
At the end of October El Coquí’s sister vessel, El Taíno, will also come online. Together they form part of the Commitment Class ships and will sail to Puerto Rico twice a week from Jaxport.
Cox Media Group
