Americas News
Crowley Maritime Starts LNG Business
U.S. marine solutions company Crowley Maritime Corporation (Crowley) says it is entering the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market with the acquisition of Carib Energy LLC (Carib Energy).
The deal provides Crowley with a licence to export the fuel into free trade agreement (FTA) countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America, as well as an immediate book of business for supply, transportation, and distribution.
The company has also formed a Crowley LNG services group within its petroleum services business unit, headed by Matt Jackson, vice president of business development, that will work on LNG vessel design and construction, transportation, product sales and distribution, and project management solutions.
"Whether it's designing the next LNG bulk transport vessel, transporting ISO tanks via Crowley's regularly scheduled liner service, arranging special carriage via our global logistics network or providing project solutions for LNG discovery and extraction; Crowley has the service portfolio to provide turnkey solutions within the LNG space," said Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley.
Carib Energy supplies U.S.-produced LNG on a small scale to Caribbean and Latin American markets, according to its website.
Beyond its current markets, Carib also has a pending application to transport LNG into non-FTA countries.
"The Carib Energy acquisition is an exciting opportunity for Crowley to utilize a combination of its core competencies including marine solutions, logistics planning and execution and associated technical and project management capabilities in an area that is by all measures growing rapidly both within the U.S. and abroad," said Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager of petroleum services.
"We look forward to playing a pivotal role with both new and existing customers as they strive to provide safe and reliable LNG distribution assets and services."
Carib Energy President Greg Buffington will join Crowley as vice president of the new Carib Energy unit.
