Keel laid for Crowley’s first LNG powered ships

The keel laying ceremony marked the next step in the construction of Crowley’s first Commitment Class ship, which will exclusively serve the U.S.-Puerto Rico trade lane, the company said in a statement.

VT Halter Marine and Crowley entered into a contract for the pair of ships in November 2013 and construction began with the first steel plate cutting in Pascagoula on October 22, 2014. The shipbuilder began to assemble the keel once enough steel pieces had been cut. With the first section set into place, the ship will now begin to take shape as it is built around the keel.

The Commitment Class ships have been designed to maximize the carriage of 53-foot, 102-inch-wide containers, which offer the most cubic cargo capacity in the trade. The ships will be 219.5 meters long, 32.3 meters wide (beam), have a deep draft of 10 meters, and an approximate deadweight capacity of 26,500 metric tons. Cargo capacity will be approximately 2,400 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent-units), with additional space for nearly 400 vehicles in an enclosed Roll-on/Roll-off garage. The main propulsion and auxiliary engines will be fueled by environmentally friendly LNG. The Commitment Class, Jones Act ships will replace Crowley’s towed triple-deck barge fleet in the South Atlantic trade, which has served the trade continuously and with distinction since the early 1970s. These new ships, which will be named El Coquí (ko-

The Commitment Class, Jones Act ships will replace Crowley’s towed triple-deck barge fleet in the South Atlantic trade, which has served since the early 1970s. These new ships, will be named El Coquí and Taíno. El Coquí and Taíno are scheduled for delivery during the second and fourth quarter 2017 respectively.

The ship design is provided by Wartsila Ship Design in conjunction with Crowley subsidiary Jensen Maritime.

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Press Release; Image: VT Halter Marine