CG assists LNG tanker adrift off Cape Cod - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

CG assists LNG tanker adrift off Cape Cod

Coast Guard vessels and aircraft were assisting a liquefied natural gas tanker adrift 35 miles off Cape Cod on Monday after the mammoth vessel lost power on its way into Boston Harbor.

The 933-foot, 90,000-ton Spanish-flagged tanker Catalunya Spirit, carrying a full load of about 138,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas, lost propulsion at about 3 a.m. Monday, the Coast Guard said. The ship is not believed to be in any danger. It is carrying 29 crew members on a regular delivery run from Trinidad and Tobago to the LNG terminal in Everett, Mass.

The 270-foot Coast Guard cutter Escanaba is assisting the tanker, and the ship’s owner, Teekay Corp., has contracted two tugs to help it into port, the Coast Guard said. There was no initial word about what caused the Catalunya Spirit to lose propulsion.

A January report from the Government Accountability Office criticized the Coast Guard’s capacity to provide security for the growing number of LNG tankers servicing U.S. gas terminals, which marine security analysts fear are a prime target for terrorists. The Coast Guard did not dispute that it now has too few boats and personnel to keep pace with the growing LNG tanker traffic.