Industry Partners Offer End-to-End LNG

Siemens Drilling and Marine, Dresser-Rand and Lloyd’s Register have announced they will team up to make LNG widely available to shipowners seeking to use LNG as a propulsion fuel, meeting tough SOx and NOx emission-reduction requirements – whether regionally or globally.

By providing an end-to-end solution encompassing the entire supply chain from natural gas procurement to liquefaction and delivery of LNG to newbuilding or retrofitting, the team says it will remove obstacles that can hold back wide-spread adoption of natural gas as the marine fuel of choice.

According to Lloyd’s Register, there are approximately 40-50 LNG-fueled vessels globally, but strong growth is predicted. Much of this proposed growth is driven by increased emissions regulations, including stringent EPA compliance requirements for marine customers operating across the North American Emissions Control Area.

David Grucza, Siemens Drilling and Marine, says: “Our integrated solution, encompassing the entire supply chain of LNG including gas-fueled marine propulsion systems, will remove the chicken-and-egg hurdle from the LNG-equation. This is a disruptive concept for the maritime industry, and the technology exists for immediate adoption. This joint solution is not limited geographically, and we stand ready to support the marine industry globally, although our initial focus is on deploying U.S. shale gas.”

The initial end-to-end solution offered to the North American inland and coastal waterways community comprises a land-based or floating liquefaction barge, an LNG bunkering barge with C-Type tanks capable of holding up to 2,500 cubic meters of LNG and a 4,200 or higher horsepower river pushboat. They have been designed and engineered by naval engineering firms Waller Marine and The Shearer Group, respectively, and will be constructed by Conrad Industries shipyard in Texas.