Keel laid for LNG Hybrid Barge

JANUARY 24, 2014 — The SAM Shipbuilding and Machinery shipyard in Komárno, Slovakia, has laid the keel of the world’s first LNG Hybrid Barge.

The barge will provide cruise ships visiting the Port of Hamburg with environmentally friendly electric power and is the result of a cooperation between Becker Marine System’s and Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises.

The barge is equipped with five gensets supplied by Zeppelin Power Systems that produce a total power of 7.5 MW (50/60 Hz) with zero emissions of sulfur oxides and soot particles. The generators will be equipped with the first marine classified, LNG fueled Caterpillar engines to be delivered to customers.

The 74.0 m long, 11.4 m wide and approx. 1.7 m draft barge is scheduled for delivery in the summer of 2014—just two years after the project began—and will be stationed in Hamburg.

In addition to offering cruise ships an external, environmentally friendly and low-emission power supply, the LNG Hybrid Barge will be equipped to supply other potential customers with heat and electricity in the winter, thus further improving the barge’s “ecological footprint.”