Introducing Greenstream, the World’s First LNG-Powered Barge

Since March of 2013, the Greenstream, the world’s first 100% LNG powered barge has been delivering liquid fuels along the Rhine river in The Netherlands.

This innovative vessel was designed and built at Peters Shipyards and is the first of two LNG-powered barges to be chartered by Royal Dutch Shell. Powering the vessel are four small Scania-Sandfirden spark-ignited natural gas engines with LNG fuel tanks provided by Cryonorm Projects and fuel systems via Cryovat-Rootselaar.

In a statement on Shell’s website, they note that the four engines provide a great deal of flexibility when it comes to power needs, along with greatly reduced emissions as compared to conventional fuels. With the four engines, “power can be varied as less is required to travel downstream than upstream with potential for fuel savings. These engines will operate at lower frequency than traditional barges, reducing vibration and noise levels which could be advantageous when traveling through populated areas on the Rhine.”

This new LNG-powered barge, along with her sister vessel, the LNG Greenrhine pictured below, will operate in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland and carry enough LNG to sail for up to seven days – from Rotterdam to Basel and back without refueling.

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