Second LNG-Powered Container Ship Launched

On Saturday, August 29, General Dynamics NASSCO launched the second ship in a series of the world’s first natural gas powered containerships. The christening and launch ceremony took place at the company’s shipyard in San Diego. The ship, the Perla del Caribe, was built for TOTE, a leading transportation and logistics company.

The new Marlin Class ships, constructed by NASSCO shipbuilders and measuring the same length as two-and-a-half football fields, will carry cargo exports between U.S.-owned ports. 

As part of a two-ship contract signed in December 2012 with TOTE, the 764-foot long containerships will be the largest dry cargo ships of their kind in the world powered by LNG. 

The ships will reduce particulate matter by 98 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 72 percent, the equivalent of removing more than 15,700 cars from the road, making them the cleanest cargo-carrying containerships in the world.

As part of the ceremony, the ship’s sponsor, Emma Engle, a third-generation shareholder of Saltchuk, TOTE’s parent company, christened the ship with a traditional champagne bottle break over the ship’s hull. Alcinda Buirds, a 32-year NASSCO employee, pulled the trigger to release the ship into the San Diego Bay.

Upon delivery of the first vessel in late-2015, the Jones Act-qualified ships will operate between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.