Coast Guard Approves Yemen Gas Deliveries To Boston

By Kathleen McNerney
Feb 2, 2010, 7:43 PM
2 Comments

BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard is launching new security measures for liquefied natural gas tankers from Yemen that are scheduled to come into Boston Harbor this month. Under the measures, Coast Guard crews will board each LNG tanker that arrives from Yemen before deciding whether to allow them into the harbor.

Lawmakers have raised red flags about the shipments because of Yemen’s strong ties to al-Qaida. The tankers filled with the potentially explosive gas became a renewed cause for concern after al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen allegedly plotted the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. passenger jet.

Coast Guard officials said they have been reviewing the security concerns for over a year before coming up with the new plans. “I will validate that all the security measures that were required of the ship while she was loading and in transit were carried out,” said Capt. John Healey. “In addition, we’ll be conducting a security loading ourselves of the vessel before we escort the vessel into port”

House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he was pleased overall with the plans, but is considering whether lawmakers need to do more. “Can I say today definitively that everything’s OK and let’s move forward?” he asked. “No. I still want to go out and make sure that every possible safety method has been used.”

Several lawmakers and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino have been pushing for the gas to be unloaded offshore, away from dense metropolitan areas. “Ultimately I think that’s where we all want to be, is having LNG offloaded offshore,” said House Public Safety Committee Chairman Michael Costello. “But that can’t happen overnight.”

In a statement, the mayor said he was disappointed by the decision and urged federal officials to step in and limit or eliminate tankers traveling through Boston Harbor. “It is unreasonable and unsafe to continually put the interests of large corporations ahead of the security of Boston-area residents and it is time to solve this problem once and for all,” Menino said.

Unloading liquefied natural gas offshore requires boats built to turn the liquid into vapor in order to pump it through underwater pipes leading to the shore. But some environmentalists oppose such facilities because they use millions of gallons of water a day to vaporize the liquefied gas.

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K. Logue

Hello – regarding LNG tankers in Boston Harbor: I just re-read a Boston Globe article from December 21, 2004 (!) in which Mayor Menino expressed strong concern about ANY LNG tankers entering Boston Harbor. It’s now over 3 years later – and the Mayor is STILL struggling with this issue. In 2004 John Kerry said he was in favor of a new LNG facility – what happened? Why has all this time been wasted? And now, the natural gas suppliers have upped the ante: LNG tankers from Yemen?! What is a resident to do? The Mayor says he is not convinced by Coast Guard assurances of new security procedures – neither am I. I live in Charlestown: if something happens – we are toast. Where is the public protest? Thank you.
B.Webster

Mayor Menino as well as the common public have not been properly educated on principles and basic scientific properties of LNG. Natural Gas, is, flammable with the right mixture of air. LNG is cryogenic. The temperature at which LNG is transported and stored is -245-260 degrees F. Not only are these cargoes extremely cold, the factors in which an incident causing LNG to vaporize and mix adequately with air to be flammable is highly unlikely. Maybe Mayor Menino and the “outraged public” should be more concerned with the tankers filled with oil, jet fuel and gasoline traveling the same harbor route (unescorted) and far more dangerous.