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Crowley Maritime Corp. launched its new Commitment-class ship, El Coqui, on Monday in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The vessel is one of the world's first combination container/roll-on, roll-off (ConRo) ships to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Putting the ship into the water is one in a series of milestones expected to be achieved this week as part of Crowley's $550 million project to expand and modernize the company's shipping and logistics services between Jacksonville, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

El Coqui, named after a frog native to the island, will now proceed through the final topside construction and testing phase before beginning service during the second half of 2017.

Tom Crowley, company chairman and CEO, said: "We are extremely appreciative of all the work that has been accomplished so far and look forward to the successful delivery of El Coqui later this year and her sister ship, Taino, in the first half of next year."

Construction of both El Coqui and Taino, the latter named for an indigenous people of Puerto Rico, has been managed in the shipyard by Crowley Marine Solutions, which includes naval architecture and marine engineering subsidiary Jensen Maritime.

According to Crowley, fuelling the two ships with LNG will result in a 100-percent reduction in sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate matter (PM); a 92-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx); and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) of more than 35 percent per container, compared with current fossil fuels.

Within the week, Crowley is also expecting the arrival from Europe of two 260-tonne, one-million-litre cryogenic LNG tanks constructed by Chart Industries, at its LNG bunkering facility in Jacksonville. The facility, scheduled for completion this summer, will be adjacent to Crowley's operating terminal and serve as the fuelling station for the LNG-powered ships.

In addition to the ships, cranes and tanks, Crowley's $550 million investment includes a new 900-foot-long, 114-foot-wide concrete pier at Isla Grande and associated dredging needed to accommodate the two new ships; expanding terminal capacity for handling refrigerated containers; paving 15 acres to accommodate container stacking; adding containers and associated handling equipment to its fleet; installing a new electrical substation to provide power for the new gantry cranes; constructing a new seven-lane exit gate for increased efficiency; installing hardware required for a new, state-of-the-art terminal operating software system, and more.

"The ships, terminal and bunkering facility represent next-generation technology built for high performance and dependable service for our customers," said Crowley's Tucker Gilliam, vice president, special projects.