First North American LNG Bunkering Terminal Opens

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday February 16, 2016

Harvey Gulf International Marine, LLC (Harvey Gulf) has completed the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering of a vessel from its newly completed LNG terminal facility, located at its Port Fourchon, Louisiana operation base, the first such facility in North America.

The bunkering is said to have included the transfer of 43,000 gallons of LNG over a 2.25 hour period to the M/V Harvey Energy, a LNG-powered Offshore Supply Vessel that is under charter to Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell).

The terminal is reported to have been designed to meet U.S. federal requirements, with the capacity to store 270,000 gallons, spread across three 90,000 gallon type "C" vacuum insulated tanks, and pump at a rate of 550 gallons per minute (GMP).

"This a testament to Harvey Gulf's commitment to promoting the use of LNG, a clean, abundant, and cost-effective alternative marine fuel," said Shane Guidry, Chairman and CEO of Harvey Gulf.

"With the completion of our LNG terminal at Port Fourchon, we are able to provide a LNG bunkering point at the epicenter of marine operations for the Gulf of Mexico, which is vital to continuing the shift to LNG as a marine fuel."

Last year, Ship & Bunker reported that M/V Harvey Energy's sister ship, M/V Harvey Energy, was supplied with LNG bunkers by truck-to-ship transfer in Pascagoula in the Gulf of Mexico, an event that was said to make Harvey Gulf the first company in North America to bunker an offshore support vessel.