The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration
(MARAD) announced Nov. 7 that it’s providing a total of $1.4 million for two
projects supporting the increased use of alternative fuels and technology in
the maritime industry.
The funds are expected be used to collect information on the
use of liquefied natural gas as a marine propulsion and to study the issues and
challenges associated with shore side storage and fueling of LNG vessels.
MARAD says it will provide Horizon Lines with $900,000 to
assist in conversion and monitoring of its vessel, Horizon Spirit, to
operate on LNG. The Horizon Spirit is an 892-foot long, 115-foot wide ocean going
container ship that operates between Long Beach, California, and Honolulu.
The conversion is anticipated to be completed by late 2015,
according to MARAD.
The second project is a $500,000 MARAD funded LNG study
conducted by the US subsidiary of Norwegian technical standards development
company Det Norske Veritas to analyze the issues and challenges associated with
the process of supplying fuel for ships and the landside infrastructure needed
to store and distribute LNG. MARAD says it anticipates the study will be
complete by spring 2014.
The two recipients were chosen via a competitive process to
partner with MARAD as part of a new program to demonstrate innovative
technologies and practices and share data on the results.
“Fuel-efficient ships appeal to the maritime industry for
the exact same reasons that fuel-efficient cars appeal to consumers – they’re
easy on the environment and their pocketbooks,” US Transportation Secretary
Anthony Foxx said in a statement.
