Crowley Maritime promotes its activities fort he Puerto Rico trade. Recently, the keel for the first of two liquefied natural[ds_preview] gas (LNG)-powered ConRo newbuildings was laid at ship-builder VT Halter Marine, Inc.’s facility in Pascagoula.
The 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 vessels 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 219.5m long, 32.3m wide, have a deep draft of 10m, and an approximate deadweight capacity of 26,500t. Cargo capacity will be approximately 2,400TEU 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. After delivery in 2017 the Commitment Class, Jones Act ships »El Coqui« and »Taino« 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. The ship design is provided by finnish company Wärtsilä in conjunction with Crowley subsidiary Jensen Maritime.
Besides this, Crowley added a 400 FEU capacity, flat deck barge to its South Atlantic Puerto Rico service in the first quarter, increasing the rotation between Jacksonville and San Juan to four sailings each week. The company also replaced the existing 580-foot, triple-deck barges with larger, recently modified 730-foot, triple-deck barges in the North Atlantic–Puerto Rico trade, between Pennsauken and San Juan, increasing capacity by over 40%. Crowley places the flat deck barge into service on a two-week rotation once it has been outfitted for container carriage.
When combined, the flat deck barge along with the existing six, triple-deck, roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) barges, ranging in size from 580 feet long to 730 feet and sailing on an accelerated schedule, will allow Crowley to offer four weekly southbound and northbound sailings per week between Jacksonville and San Juan.
