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February 11, 2008

LNG tanker adrift east of Cape Cod

The 933-foot liquefied natural gas tanker Catalunya Spirit is disabled and adrift in wind-driven seas some 37 miles east of Chatham, Mass., today. But the Coast Guard said the vessel is "not in immediate danger" and is drifting away from Cape Cod.

The Coast Guard said in a news release this evening that it is monitoring and helping the tanker, which lost propulsion. About 29 people are aboard the tanker, which is carrying a full load of liquefied natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago to Boston.

The tanker became disabled about 3 a.m. today. The crew is reporting hourly to Coast Guard in Boston.

Air Station Cape Cod has delivered a Coast Guard marine inspector and a technical representative to the Catalunya Spirit. The Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba is on scene with the tanker to assist with communication.

Teekay Corporation, the company that runs the Catalunya Spirit, has contracted with two tug boats to help; they expected to arrive on scene at 11:30 p.m. A second Coast Guard marine inspector is aboard one of the tugs.

There were 30- to 35-knot winds from the west with 12-foot seas late this afternoon, but that is expected to diminish during the night.

"As part of our response plan, we've notified our National Strike Team, and we're coordinating salvage and pollution response assets," Gail Kulisch, Captain of the port of Boston, said in the statement. "A very comprehensive safety system has been developed by the Coast Guard in conjunction with port partners and the shipping company to minimize the risk to the marine environment and public safety."

Concerns over safety led the Coast Guard last year to reject a proposed LNG tanker route up Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island en route to a terminal in Fall River in southeastern Massachusetts.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 7:04 PM | Permalink

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