Harvey Gulf International Marine has announced that it has begun to operate one of its Tri-Fuel vessels exclusively on battery power and Renewable Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG), with diesel fuel as back up, moving one step closer to becoming the world’s first ESG certified oil and gas vessel operator.
RLNG is recaptured swine and dairy farm gas from pig and cows. Use of RLNG enables clients who charter the company’s dual and tri-fuelled RLNG vessels to obtain a Carbon Neutral Certificate for their related vessel operations.
CEO Shane Guidry commented, “We always knew the day would come when investors and customers would demand low, or in this case, carbon neutral, zero emission Platform Supply Vessels.
“Harvey owns the only ones in the world operating today and the only ones that will ever be operating in the United States, unless our competitors want to build new dual fuel LNG vessels, or tri-fuelled like these at a cost of $113,000,000.00 per vessel. I don’t see that happening, as you will never get a day rate from the end user that will support the 113 million construction cost.
“Today, we own five 310’ Platform Supply Vessels all of which can operate carbon neutral utilizing Renewable Liquefied Natural Gas. So, for those oil companies that really want to do all they can to reduce emissions while drilling for oil, we have boats that they can now charter to deliver the drilling rigs’ needs while burning carbon neutral fuel.” He continued.
The Carbon Natural RLNG being consumed onboard is a blend of low carbon intensity (CI) sourced bio-methane from the swine and bovine industries. The natural methane produced from the waste/by-product of the pork and dairy sectors is recovered via digesters.
The processing of the waste and extracting of the methane, results in negative carbon intensity (CI) scored renewable gas. Through blending at our LNG fuelling terminal (the only one in America) we can achieve net zero carbon neutral fuel burn whereby low CI score RLNG is blended with locally available LNG.
An example would be blending local sourced LNG with a CI score of +80LNG with RLNG with a CI score of -440, the net zero blend would be at a ratio of 5.5:1. Through these type of innovative thought processes, the company is able to continue to support its clients in meeting their environmental commitments.
Harvey also announced that it has ordered twenty-five electric trucks for its employee fleet. All will replace existing combustion engine vehicles and be used to support the company’s vessel operations and efforts to continue down the de-carbonization path.
