SeaOne Caribbean LLC and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. have signed a letter of intent for the construction of 12 articulated tug/barge (ATB) marine vessels. Featuring SeaOne’s CGL technology and systems that include the CGL containment system, the 234mx38.7mx21.7m (767'6"x127'x71') ATBs will be the world’s largest and most powerful and will operate in the Caribbean and Central American regions. The ATBs will be used to transport and deliver a CGL (Compressed Gas Liquid) cargo to customers in support of the SeaOne Caribbean Fuels Supply Project. To meet cargo delivery requirements, the ATBs will be fitted with IMO Tier III diesel engines sized to attain a service speed of over 14 knots.
The ATBs, designed by Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corp., will be built in Korea but will fly the flag of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Equipment manufacturers have not been announced as yet.
The CGL Containment System is treated as an independent cargo and is not integral to the vessel design. The ATB cargo holds will be kept at a temperature of -40ºF while the containment system is full, resulting in no sloshing or boil off and no retention of a gas blanket after offloading of the cargo.
As the Classification Society, the American Bureau of Shipping has worked steadily with SeaOne from the outset of the project to help ensure the vessels will comply with the highest standards of construction and safe operation.
Delivery dates have not been announced. SeaOne photo
“SeaOne has been working with SHI for a while now and we have found them to be a proactive company that listens to new ideas in the gas and liquids transportation business and provides constructive input into the design of the CGL transportation vessels. We are pleased to have SHI as part of the project,” Dr. Bruce Hall, President and COO for SeaOne, said in a prepared statement..
“We are delighted to participate in SeaOne Caribbean’s Fuels Supply Project with the construction and supply of the Articulated Tug and Barges, and hope to build a lasting relationship with SeaOne hereafter,” Daniel Cho, vice president of Samsung Heavy Industries’ Rig & Industrial Ship Marketing, said in his remarks.
The signing of the LOI for the ATBs is a major milestone in SeaOne’s extensive Caribbean Fuels Supply Project. The project being undertaken to develop an environmentally friendly, lowest cost, and safe means of transporting gas and gas liquids together as a single cargo. “This is certainly an industry game-changer,” noted Forrest Hoglund, chairman and CEO of SeaOne. “This project will provide to the region, for the first time, the lowest cost of fuel while reducing emissions substantially. This shall have a significant positive impact on current socio-economic benefits to this region.”
