Montego Bay Port Will Be Ready to Accept LNG for Bogue Project

The Port Authority of Jamaica says the Port of Montego Bay will be ready to accept shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Bogue Gas Conversion Project.

Vice President for Business Development at the authority, Edmond Marsh, gave the assurance during his address at the launch of the J$2.5 billion (US$22.54 million) project in St. James on October 12.

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) is partnering with American company, Fortress Energy, to convert its 120-megawatt automotive diesel oil (ADO) plant at Bogue, into a dual facility for ADO and LNG.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2016, and will involve the shipment of LNG from Fort Lauderdale in the United States to the Port of Montego Bay.

Mr. Marsh said the Port Authority will be “working hard” to ensure that all deadlines and standards are met for the arrival of the first shipment of gas.

He informed that through collaboration with various stakeholders in western Jamaica, the Port Authority has accelerated its plans for the modernisation of the port.

“One of the first activities we will be doing is to ensure that we provide a new berth…the berth is shared with cruise shipping and many times cruise ships have to get priority. For that reason, we have moved forward with the development of a new berth to facilitate the offloading of the cargo,” he informed.

He said the conversion of the Bogue plant into a dual facility for ADO and LNG is a “game changing” development.

“We see a lot of innovations arising from this project. Not only will it bring new technologies to the port, but it will allow us at the Port Authority to focus a lot more…on Montego Bay now as a very important element in port development and to support the whole western region,” Mr. Marsh said.