Crowley creates virtual LNG pipeline for customer in Puerto Rico

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based shipping company established a multi-year contract with the Puerto Rican operation of Ardent Mills, covering both the supply and transportation of liquefied natural gas, which will be used to power the Ardent plant.    Crowley Maritime’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) services group will deliver LNG in containers from production facilities in the Southeast to a major flour milling and ingredient supplier in Puerto Rico, the company announced Thursday.
   The multi-year contract with the Puerto Rican operation of Ardent Mills covers both the supply and transportation of LNG, which will be used to power the Ardent plant. Many factories in Puerto Rico run on diesel fuel, which until the past year was much more expensive than LNG and produces significant greenhouse and smog-forming pollution.
   LNG is produced when natural gas is cooled to -259 degrees Fahrenheit until it becomes a liquid and then stored at essentially atmospheric pressure. Converting natural gas to a liquid reduces its volume about 600 times.
   The LNG is stored in 10,000-gallon ISO tanks enclosed in frames that can be stacked on vessels and transported by truck just like regular dry containers.
   Transportation of LNG from liquefaction facilities on the mainland to the Molinos de Puerto Rico plant will be managed by Crowley’s domestic logistics team, which will coordinate the over-the-road transport of the containers to the company’s Jacksonville, Fla., marine terminal. From there, containers will be loaded onto company-owned vessels departing for Puerto Rico. Crowley’s Puerto Rico-based logistics team will deliver the LNG to the customer’s facility, where the LNG will be re-gasified and used for power consumption.
   Crowley purchases its gas from Pivotal LNG.
   LNG is exported in tank containers to markets that do not justify, or cannot receive, large tanker ships.
   Molinos de Puerto Rico, which also supplies wheat, corn and rice-based ingredients, has been a long-time customer of Crowley’s regular container service to the island.
   Crowley is already supplying LNG to Coca-Cola Puerto Rico Bottlers in Cayey and Club Caribe in Cidra, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of CC1 Companies, and to a major pharmaceutical company on the island.