A GLOBAL FUEL IN ITS OWN RIGHT
MAY, 1997
SIDEBAR: A new "big bang" theory
Mention oil and the environment, and it is easy to conjure up images of exhaust fumes and the tar strewn beaches around the Exxon Valdez. Natural gas, on the other hand, has a much better reputation. It burns more "cleanly" than other fossil fuels, and if a liquid natural gas (LNG) tanker goes aground, its cargo reverts to gas and escapes into the air.
Why then, are cargos of the eco-friendly fuel treated with such caution. Because as Lieutenant Commander Mark Skordinski of the United States Coast Guard in Boston points out, "There is a great potential for energy." The chances of a disaster transporting LNG gas are widely regarded as minimal, but there is a caveat-if it happened, the cost would be measured in human lives rather than environmental damage.
Natural gas-largely methane-is much more explosive than crude oil, and experience storing and transporting it on dry land has shown that catastrophic accidents can happen. In 1973 an LNG storage tank on Staten Island, New York, blew up, killing 40 people. Eleven years later, 334 people died in Mexico City when a gas storage area exploded, and over 600 died in 1992 after a pipeline explosion in the former Soviet Union.
To prevent a LNG tanker from exploding near an urban area, elaborate precautions are taken. Most LNG tankers, though large, are double hulled and the LNG is contained in separate compartments further limiting any large scale leaks.
When a LNG tanker calls on the port of Boston, where the city surrounds the harbor, everything stops. It can only enter the harbor after it has passed a stringent safety inspection, transit only during daylight hours under good visibility and proceed very slowly while all other vessels stand clear up to a minimum of 2 miles ahead and 1 mile astern of the ship. And when it passes by Logan International Airport, all planes must be rerouted so as not to fly over the tanker.
The flight restriction over these vessels is not only in place to protect the ship from any crashing planes-they also aim to protect the aircraft. The LNG inside the ship could unexpectedly and embarrassingly vent, creating a gaseous cloud which would rise up to greet incoming planes. If the weather is still that day the gas cloud might not dissipate and could be ignited by the planes engines.
-By Omar Younes
Regards
J.R. © The WorldPaper (US). All Rights reserved.