NorthStar to boost US LNG bunkering capacity

A barge capable of providing LNG as a maritime fuel at points along the US Gulf Coast could be in service later this year, a holding company said March 18.

NorthStar HoldCo Energy, part of a fund managed by Oaktree Capital Management, said it planned to deploy the articulated tug barge, Clean Canaveral, by Q4 2021.

The barge would hold as much as 5,400 m³ of LNG for delivery at points along the southern coast of Georgia to the southeastern coast of Florida.

NorthStar noted that demand for LNG as a bunker fuel in the maritime sector is increasing as more LNG-fueled vessels are put into service.

New regulations on maritime shipping, led by the International Maritime Organization through its so-called IMO 2020 regime, call on the industry to take meaningful steps to lessen its environmental impact by using cleaner fuels such as LNG.

Analysis from Wood Mackenzie found the impact of IMO 2020 would lead to a surge in demand for LNG as a bunker fuel, with the appetite reaching as much as 9mn mt/year by 2025.

In light of the expected tug from the demand side, NorthStar added that it was working with its various partners to triple the capacity of the small-scale JAX LNG facility in Jacksonville, FL to 360,000 gallons/day and doubling storage capacity to 4mn gallons.

In service since Q4 2018, JAX LNG has made more than 150 deliveries to bunkering barge Clean Jacksonville. The LNG facility can also service the trucking and aerospace segment.