Why Shippers Are Turning to LNG-Powered Vessels

  • Number of natural-gas powered ships may grow 15-fold by 2020
  • Enviromental, financial concerns combining to push changeover

Tugboats help guide a container ship approaching the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, U.S.

Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg
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When TOTE Inc., a shipper that operates between the U.S. and the Caribbean, launched its latest container ship last month, the 760-foot craft carried a certain distinction: It’s only the second of the massive vessels worldwide fueled by liquefied natural gas.

The first was launched four months earlier by the same company.