Seaside LNG and Carnival Corp have signed a term bunkering agreement to fuel the first LNG propelled cruise ship – ‘Carnival Jubilee’- to call Galveston, Texas.
This marks a significant milestone for Seaside and Carnival by working closely together to create an LNG supply chain in a new region of the US, the company claimed.
Seaside’s LNG bunker barge, ‘Clean Jacksonville’, delivered last month, will move from Jacksonville, Florida to Galveston and will serve the Texas Gulf Coast. ‘Carnival Jubilee’s’ first delivery is scheduled for next month.
With the assistance of the Port of Galveston, Seaside is co-ordinating all of the stakeholders to ensure that the proper infrastructure is in place to begin the operation this winter. Initially, the LNG will be trucked from inland locations and then loaded into Seaside’s LNG barge.
Seaside and Carnival Corp will continue to work together to provide direct access to a marine facility for the most efficient long-term supply solution.
“LNG delivers immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions and is the best available market-ready fuel to help cut ship emissions now – so Carnival Corp is investing in LNG-powered vessels as part of our ambition to achieve net-zero carbon ship operations by 2050,” said Tom Strang, Carnival Corp’s Senior Vice President of Maritime Affairs.
“We were the first to introduce LNG-powered cruise ships into the North American market, and we’ll be the first to introduce our LNG fleet to Galveston with the ‘Carnival Jubilee’. We appreciate Seaside for moving quickly to mobilise, find supply, and bring the parties together to create a new LNG supply chain to support our LNG bunkering needs,” he said.
“The Seaside LNG team is excited to expand our LNG bunkering reach in the US by linking a local supplier with Carnival Corp through the use of our LNG barge fleet,” added Tim Casey, CEO of Seaside LNG. “We plan to continue building upon this position in the Texas Gulf Coast market by sending additional barges to the region in the future.”
Seaside LNG provides LNG production and maritime transportation logistics to interests in the maritime, aerospace and transportation industries.
The company owns 50% of JAX LNG, a small-scale (360,000 gallons per day) LNG production facility operating two trains in Jacksonville, Florida, and a 100% stake in an LNG bunkering barge operation through Polaris New Energy (PNE).
PNE, the bunkering arm of Seaside LNG, maintains the US’ largest fleet of Jones Act-compliant bunkering vessels.
