Crowley Maritime Corp. has taken delivery of Taíno, the second of two of the world’s first combination container/roll on-roll off (ConRo) ships powered by LNG, from Pascagoula-based shipbuilder VT Halter Marine Inc.
Taíno will soon join its sister ship El Coquí, which was delivered in July, in providing services between Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Taíno, like El Coquí, will be operated by Crowley’s global ship management group. The newbuild vessel is scheduled to make its maiden voyage to San Juan on Jan. 8 from JAXPORT.
The new Crowley ships, built specifically for the Puerto Rico trade, are 219.5 meters (720 feet), 26,500 deadweight tons (dwt), and can transport up to 2,400 twenty-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) at a cruising speed of 22 knots.
“I want to congratulate and thank all the men and women at Crowley and VT Halter Marine who helped to bring these marvelous new ships to life,” said Tom Crowley, company chairman and CEO.
“From a business standpoint, Taíno and El Coquí are key components of our integrated logistics offerings that are bringing speed to market and creating a competitive advantage for our customers in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
“With our own vessels and proprietary transportation and distribution network, we’re reducing friction and complexity while increasing the velocity of customers’ goods moving to market and reducing their landed costs.”