Hunt of the Sea Wolves

Under a new agreement that is hoped will reduce the fear of terrorist attacks, one-fourth of LNG tanker crews will have to be Americans or the ships will not be allowed to unload liquified natural gas at terminals planned for Massachusetts. 

The thinking behind the agreement is that if there are American officers aboard the ship the rest of the crew, who could be from any number of countries that have reason to harm the U.S., they could stop them from possibly blowing the ship up.

The first questions is, how does reducing the “fear” of terrorists reduce the actual act of terrorism? It’s a PR move not a security move.

This agreement is more a tool to guarantee American merchant sailors jobs than stop terrorists from using an LNG ship as a WMD. It’s unlikely that a few unarmed American officers possibly stop terrorists from carrying out their mission.

If the ship were already tied up to a LNG terminal and offloading the gas any Coast Guard vessels that escorted it up the river would most likely have departed and unless there was an armed detail aboard the ship, what would stop the terrorists from either killing the Americans or simply taking them hostage?

Then if the word somehow were to get out to the local police, the normal time it takes for them to seal off the ship to prevent anyone from escaping–not likely part of the plan–and perhaps calling in SWAT, the terrorists could have already set the charges throughout the ship and detonated them.

Then as fires rage through the ship the liquified gas would begin to vaporize. Now the difference of opinion at this point is whether or not it will explode if it escapes the confines of the tanks. Some argue as a vapor it will only explode in a confined space.

Well, if the gas were to vaporize and penetrate all the hundreds of confined passageways, engine room, living and working spaces, you have a one massive bomb waiting to explode.

But if these experts are wrong and the vapor was to pour over the side of the ship and float across the water, then penetrate all the hidden spaces of the LNG facility and surrounding community there would come a point when the vapor can be ignited by a cell phone or cigarette lighter.

The resulting flash explosion would burn everyone within a mile around the ship. Then the fire would instantly return to the source, the ship itself. There would be a massive whirlpool fire around the ship, turning it into a pressure cooker and vaporizing the liquid within even faster. Then at some undetermined time–simply because it hasn’t happened yet–the ship and what remains of 30-million gallons of natural gas–would explode with the power of numerous atomic bombs. Some say as many as 50!

Of course, this is all conjecture, but so is the thought that a few American officers aboard an LNG ship could possibly stop armed killers intent on destroying a city and all who live in it. — John Chadwell

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Terrorists and LNG Ships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.