VT Halter Marine launches first US-flagged offshore LNG bunker ATB barge for Q-LNG
A few weeks after being named, the Q-LNG 4000 launched from the docks of VT Halter Marine, Inc. (VT Halter Marine), a company of ST Engineering North America, the company said in its release.
The Q-LNG 4000 is America’s first offshore Liquefied Natural Gas Articulated Tug and Barge (LNG ATB) unit. The Q-LNG 4000 barge is designed to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG, with dimensions of 324’ x 64’ x 32’.6”. Its tug, the Q-Ocean Services, is scheduled to launch late October.
The tug will have 5,100 horsepower, powered by two GE 6L250 MDC EPA Tier 4 main engines, with Wartsila Z-drives, and dimensions of 128’ x 42’ x 21’.
“The Q-LNG 4000 is dedicated to delivering safe transit to all ships and ports it will serve,” said Shane J Guidry, Chief Executive Officer of Q-LNG Transport. “Q-LNG Transport is committed to being a leader in developing LNG infrastructure in the United States and abroad. We are equally pleased that the ATB unit is Jones Act compliant, meaning she was constructed in America, owned by an American company, crewed by Americans under an American flag.”
The LNG ATB Unit is designed to meet the requirements of American Bureau of Shipbuilding and the International Gas Carrier code as an LNG bunkering barge. Anticipated delivery of the ATB unit is in the first quarter of 2020.
In November 2017, VT Halter Marine was awarded a contract by Q-LNG Transport to build the ATB LNG unit, which was announced as part of a long-term contract with Shell Trading (U.S.) Company, to deliver LNG as a fuel source to various ports in Florida and the Caribbean. It will bunker Carnival Cruise Line’s two new dual-fuel ships and two dual-fuel Siem Car Carrier pure car truck carriers chartered by the Volkswagen Group to transport vehicles from Europe to North America.
About VT Halter Marine
VT Halter Marine, the marine operations of ST Engineering North America, is based in Pascagoula, Miss., and is a leader in the design and construction of medium-sized ships in the United States. VT Halter Marine designs, builds and repairs a wide variety of ocean-going vessels such as patrol vessels, oil recovery vessels, oil cargo vessels, ferries, logistic support vessels, auxiliaries, and research and survey vessels.
About ST Engineering
ST Engineering North America is the US headquarters of ST Engineering, a global technology and engineering group, providing integrated solutions to the commercial and government markets in the aerospace, electronics, land systems, and marine sectors.