Totem Ocean Trailer Express Announces Shipyard for Conversion to Natural Gas

Totem Ocean Trailer Express announced that it has signed a contract with Keppel Shipyard for the conversion of the Midnight Sun to dual fuel LNG propulsion. This is the world’s first major conversion of a large RO/RO vessel to LNG. The work will begin in December and is expected to be completed in 90 days.

The conversion will require the removal and replacement of the four engines, which will add nearly 78,000 cu. ft. of LNG capacity along with the addition of nearly 30 miles of new cabling.

Puget Sound Energy, in partnership with Totem Ocean and the Port of Tacoma, has plans to construct an LNG liquefaction terminal at the Port that will serve Totem Ocean, residents of Puget Sound and the broader transportation industry in the Pacific Northwest. This facility is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2018.

In the short term, TOTE and its partner WesPac are building North America’s first LNG bunker barge to deliver fuel to the ships once converted. Once complete, the Midnight Sun will emit fewer air and greenhouse gas emissions. Her sister ship, the North Star, is expected to be converted in 2016 or 2017.