A US LNG bunker barge owned by Northstar Midstream’s Polaris New Energy has carried out its first operation supplying volumes to an AET tanker in a Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) terminal off the Florida coast.
Industry players in the US said the 5,500-cbm LNG bunker articulated tug barge (ATB) Clean Canaveral (built 2021) rendezvoused with the 113,416-dwt Eagle Brasilia (built 2019) off Jaxport.
But high winds forced the operation to be moved into Blount Island Marine Terminal within Jaxport.
Around 1,500 cbm of LNG was transferred to the Eagle Brasilia’s two 850-cbm bunker tanks, after an extensive cooldown operation — said to be the first carried out by an ATB for a ship in the US.
The bunkers were supplied by Jax LNG and traded by GAC Bunker Fuels.
The Clean Canaveral is the largest of the three Jones Act LNG bunker vessels — the others are the 4,000-cbm Q-LNG 4000 (built 2021) and 2,200-cbm Clean Jacksonville (built 2018) — now operating in the US. It will work in tandem with the tug Polaris, which was delivered in March.
The Clean Canaveral was built to supply LNG from Jaxport-based producer Jax LNG to the cruise industry in southern Florida and to ports on the US Atlantic coast.
It is expected to start supplying Disney Cruise Line vessels this year.
Tim Casey, senior vice president at both Northstar Midstream and Seaside LNG Holdings — the parent of Polaris New Energy — said the operation was the culmination of years of hard work.
“We have additional bunker deliveries already scheduled for later this month and are actively growing our customer base to supply much-needed last mile logistics services,” he said.
Polaris New Energy ordered a second 5,500-cbm ATB in November at Wisconsin yard Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding for delivery in 2024.
Polaris is holding an optional slot for a larger vessel at the shipyard.
