Crowley awarded second contract to supply commercial LNG to major pharmaceutical company in Puerto Rico
Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) services group has been awarded a second, multi-year contract to supply containerized, U.S.-sourced LNG to a major pharmaceutical company’s manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico. The contract, executed through Crowley’s Carib Energy subsidiary, includes the fuel supply and transportation of LNG, helping the customer yield substantially lowered emissions and an alternative to their current fuel source, diesel. Other benefits include an uninterrupted fuel supply due to the abundance and availability of U.S.-sourced LNG, the company said in its press release.
The transportation of LNG from U.S.-based liquefaction facilities to the pharmaceutical company’s plants will be managed by Crowley’s domestic logistics team, which will coordinate over-the-road transportation of 40-foot intermodal containers authorized by the Department of Transportation to carry approximately 10,000 gallons of LNG to the company’s Jacksonville, Fla., shipping terminal. Once in Jacksonville, the containers will be loaded onto company-owned vessels departing for Puerto Rico. Upon arrival on the island, Crowley’s Puerto Rico-based logistics team will deliver the LNG to the customer’s facilities. There the LNG will be re-gasified into pipeline natural gas for boiler consumption.
“We are thrilled to now be able to provide such valuable services to another customer in the Caribbean,” said Greg Buffington, Crowley vice president. “From the sourcing and transportation to the delivery into the equipment, the entire process and LNG supply chain will be seamless for them. We look forward to playing a pivotal role in supplying a cost-efficient, safe, reliable and environmentally friendly natural gas fuel source for our customer’s operations.”
Last year, Crowley announced it had entered the LNG market by acquiring Florida-based Carib Energy LLC. Founded in 2011, the Crowley company was the first to receive a small scale, 25-year, LNG export license from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for LNG transportation from the U.S. into Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries. Shortly thereafter, a Crowley LNG services group was formed to begin offering supply, transportation, and distribution of LNG services via 10,000-gallon ISO tanks, and the company was additionally granted the first small-scale licensefor supply, transportation and distribution of LNG into Non-Free Trade Agreement (NTFA) countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
In March, Crowley announced the signing of its first multi-year contract with Coca-Cola Bottlers of Puerto Rico to supply containerized, U.S.-sourced LNG to two of the manufacturer's plants in Cayey and Cidra, Puerto Rico. Crowley is currently in negotiations with several other potential industrial customers that will soon convert to LNG.
Most recently, in September, Crowley’s Carib Energy announced the signing of a long-term firm LNG supply agreement with Pivotal LNG, Inc., a subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc., which owns multiple subsidiaries with LNG liquefaction facilities.
Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 122-year-old Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family and employee-owned company. The company provides project solutions, energy and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Offered within these operating lines of business are: liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its TITAN Salvage subsidiary; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales.