This week, Seaspan Energy launched the third of its three 7600m3 LNG bunkering vessels, the Seaspan Baker, named after Mount Baker, also known as Koma Kulshan, in Washington State.
This series of vessels is named after iconic West Coast mountains and the first two vessels, the Seaspan Garibaldi (Nch’ḵay̓) and the Seaspan Lions (Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn), will be delivered later this year, while Seaspan Baker will arrive in 2025.
The Seaspan Baker is currently targeted to service the Long Beach container ship market and will join the Seaspan Lions in providing Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) fueling services for vessels on the West Coast of North America. While the Seaspan Garibaldi is set to deliver low-carbon solutions to the global market and will be based in the Panama region.
This series of vessels are each 112.8 meters in length, 18.6 meters in width, 5 meters in draft, with a design speed of 13 knots. The LNG bunkering vessels are being built by CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE), one of the most experienced small-scale gas carrier shipyards in the world, having delivered more than 30 LNG gas carriers.
For the design of the LNG Bunker Vessels, Seaspan worked closely with the Canadian-based team at VARD Marine Inc. to incorporate emerging technologies resulting in a decrease in emissions and underwater noise. The design is focused on safe, efficient, and economical refueling of multiple ship types with an ability to transfer to and from a wide range of terminals. The design will allow the vessel to engage in ship-to-ship LNG transfer along with coastal and short-sea shipping cargo operations.