Stolt Tankers’ barge operation in the Port of Houston is not only reducing the duration of port calls for its ships, but also cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

The three barges were introduced to offload cargo while ships are idle instead of having to wait for the terminal to be ready to receive them. The barges then move the offloaded cargo to the terminal at the next available opportunity. This has allowed Stolt Tankers to reduce the average duration its ships stay in port by three days and fuel consumption by an average 1.7%.

“In total, in 2022, this operation has led to a 6,585-tonne reduction of our ships’ CO₂ emissions,” explained Bharat Nayar, Stolt Tankers’ Business Partner, Sustainability and Decarbonisation. “Over the same period, the barges emitted 2,508 tonnes of CO₂, so we’ve made a net reduction of 4,077 tonnes.

“This shows the potential that a barge operation has to support us as we work towards our sustainability ambitions. It is a scalable solution that we could, in the future, extend by increasing our fleet of barges in Houston or by rolling out such an operation in other ports.”

In addition to the reduced port stays and environmental benefits, enabling the ships to move rapidly out of the harbour and back to sea means Stolt Tankers can also offer even more efficient services to its customers.