Marine Log - April 2008 - (Page 38)

TUGS&BARGES LNG growth fuels demand for ship docking tugs L iquefied Natural Gas (LNG) growth is driving demand for escort/ship docking tug services. There are currently six existing LNG terminals in the U.S. and another 40 or so that are before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or are being discussed by the LNG industry. One of those that has received approval from the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration is the Neptune Offshore LNG Terminal, which will be located offshore about 10 miles from Gloucester, Mass. Boston Towing & Transportation, a unit of the Reinauer Companies, Staten Island, N.Y., has been awarded a 20-plus-year contract by Suez Energy N.A. to service its Neptune Offshore LNG Terminal. To support the contract, Boston Towing is constructing two tugs at Derecktor Shipyard in Bridgeport, Conn., based on designs from Canada’s Robert Allan Ltd. The larger of the two is a 128 ft, 5,400 hp, controllable pitch (CP), Z-Drive, FiFi 1 tug. A second, backup vessel is 101 ft, 5,400 hp, CP Z Drive, FiFi 1 tug based on a well proven design. These tugs will reportedly be the first in the U.S. to incorporate CP propellers with the Z-Drives. This allows the FiFi Class 1 fire pumps to be driven off the main engines, which saves a great deal of weight and cost by eliminating the fire pump engines found on all other FiFi Class 1 vessels. Both tugs will be capable of remaining on station throughout all LNG discharge operations. Last month, Moran Towing of Lake Charles, LLC, Lake Charles, La., signed a long-term contract to provide tug services for Sempra LNG’s Cameron LNG receipt terminal located near Hackberry, La. Currently more than 70% complete, the Cameron LNG receipt terminal will be capable of processing up to 1.5 billion ft3 of natural gas per day. Construction on the terminal is expected to be complete in late 2008. Moran Towing of Lake Charles, LLC is a joint venture by Moran Towing Corporation, Bay Houston Towing, Co., and Suderman & Young Towing, Co. L.P., both of Houston, Tex. Moran Towing Corp., New Canaan, Conn., is already well established in the tug services for LNG terminals. In 2006, Moran was contracted to provide tug services and related ship assistance expertise for two LNG terminals that are currently under construction. The first is a $700 million terminal being constructed on Quintana Island near Freeport, Tex., by the Freeport LNG partnership. The second terminal is located near the Mexican port of Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula. Moran already provides more ship assist services at LNG terminals than any other U.S. company with operations at Cove Point on Chesapeake Bay and at Elba Island on the Savannah River in Georgia. Servicios Maritimos de Baja California, S. de R.L. de C.V., a joint venture of Moran and Compania Maritima del Pacifico S.A. de C.V. , has signed a long-term deal to provide tugs and other marine vessels to assist LNG vessels calling at the Energía Costa Azul LNG Import Terminal, which is being constructed at a site located about 15 nautical miles from the Port of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Servicios Maritimos will use four Robert Allan-designed 75-ton bollard pull FiFi-1 escort tugs for the service. The tugs are being built by Union Naval Shipyard of Valencia, Spain. 38 MARINE LOG APRIL 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.moranenvironmental.com http://www.moranenvironmental.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - April 2008

Marine Log - April 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Offshore Vessels Evolve to Meet Subsea Demands Picking the Right Floaters for Deepwater Tugs: The Good Times Roll, But for How Long? Interactive TV at Sea Jo-Kell's Suzan Kelly Tugs & Barges Exhibitors Preview Beyond Imagination Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Website Directory Infodirect ML Marketplace Last Page

Marine Log - April 2008

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