Great Lakes research center gets study grant

A Twin Ports research institute will study environmental issues facing shipping and Great Lakes marine transportation under a five-year agreement with the federal government.

The Duluth News Tribune reports the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute’s first task is to lead a study of whether it’s feasible to convert to natural gas 10 bulk carriers that generate steam by burning fuel oil.

According to Michael Parsons, professor emeritus from the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, who will lead the study, “Converting to natural gas would make them some of the cleanest ships on the lakes.”

Most of the ships were built during the 1950s. Converting the carriers to natural gas also could reduce fuel and crew costs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration is paying for the study by the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute, a consortium of the University of Wisconsin-Superior and the University of Minnesota Duluth with 10 affiliate universities around the Great Lakes.

While the gas is cheaper than the bunker fuel the lakers burn, it requires three and a half to four times as much volume as fuel oil containing a similar amount of energy. Part of the challenge of the study is to see if there’s enough room in a ship to put in enough liquefied natural gas so that the ships would have the range they need to operate on the Great Lakes. Ore carriers, for example have routes that are six or seven days long.

Using natural gas to help power ships is not new – in started in 1960. Ferries in Canada, Virginia and Norway use natural gas.