TOTE Services Signs Up to Provide LNG Bunker-Barge Capacity in Galveston
TOTE Group is partnering up with a Texas-based bunkering company to launch LNG bunker barge services in the greater Houston / Galveston Bay area. LNG is an increasingly popular option for cruise ships, boxships and other vessel classes, and locally-produced Texan natural gas, liquefied and delivered, will give these visiting vessels the fuel they need.
TOTE Services and Galveston LNG Bunker Port have signed a heads of agreement that outlines the construction and operation of a Jones Act-compliant bunker vessel service. Bunker barges enable refueling while the receiving vessel is moored alongside the pier at a working cargo or passenger terminal, without requiring it to shift berths to a separate refueling pier. This saves time and cost.
In the conventional HFO/VLSFO market, both Jones Act and foreign-flag bunkering vessels operate out of the Houston area, reflecting the regulatory needs of different operators. Offshore bunkering services outside the port can be legally provided by foreign-flag product tanker tonnage, since the cargo (the bunker fuel) does not move between two U.S. points. The Vitol-chartered, Marshall Islands-flagged Lokholmen is an example of a vessel in this trade. Inshore bunkering is generally done with Jones Act tank barges and push boats or ATBs.
Galveston LNG Bunker Port says that it needs U.S.-owned, built and crewed vessels to move LNG in coastwise trade, and TOTE is well positioned to supply the tonnage. TOTE Services has conducted over 850 LNG bunkering evolutions over the years on the company's own vessels, and that experience will translate into operation of a fleet of Jones Act LNG bunker barges for GLBP.
"The safe and reliable delivery of LNG to our customers is paramount. Securing TOTE Services as our Jones Act partner is a defining milestone for the project and the U.S. LNG bunkering industry," said Jonathan Cook, CEO of Navergy Infrastructure Partners (formerly Pilot LNG), which is one of the two backers of GLBP.
GLBP has secured all of its federal and state permits, and it has awarded a contract for engineering and construction. Talks with potential customers for offtake purchasing continue, and the venture says that it hopes to achieve a final investment decision this year.
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The small-scale bunker port would produce about 0.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, the standard industry measurement of capacity. GLBP has secured a site in Texas City and selected NV5 LNG as its EPC contractor.
A competing project by Houston-based company Stabilis - which already has two smaller liquefaction facilities - is also in the running. Stabilis holds contracts to supply Carnival's growing fleet of LNG-powered cruise ships. At 0.35 mtpa, its new proposed plant is larger, and it wants to have production online in 2027. Stabilis says that it has booked long-term sales for more than half of its project's planned capacity.
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