Page 20: of Marine News Magazine (June 2005)

19 21

Rhode Island

Passes Bill on

LNG Ship Ops

The House of Representatives voted 66- 0 to approve legislation introduced by

Rep. Raymond E. Gallison Jr. to require any LNG tanker to have an LNG-certified

American master mariner present on each trip through Rhode Island waters and dur- ing transfer of cargo.

Representative Gallison, chairman of the Special House Commission to Study the Transportation of Liquefied Natural

Gas and a Democrat who represents Dis- trict 69 in Bristol and Portsmouth, pro- posed the legislation (2005 - H5362Aaa) as a safety measure should either of the two proposed local LNG terminal projects go forward. "If either of these LNG pro- jects are approved, we need this assurance that there's someone on board with no stake in the delivery who knows how to identify safety problems on LNG tankers and would have no problem halting the shipment if there's a safety problem," said

Representative Gallison, who has been at the forefront of the efforts to fight the pro- posed Weaver's Cove LNG terminal in

Fall River, Mass., and the expansion of the Keyspan LNG terminal in Providence. "We have too many people living and working along the route that these tankers would take to take any chances with safe- ty." The bill would require every LNG tanker entering Rhode Island waters to have an LNG-certified, federally licensed master mariner on board any time it enters

Rhode Island waters north of a line between Sakonnet Point and Point Judith.

The master mariner would advise the ship's crew to perform any actions neces- sary to protect the safety of Rhode

Islanders. The ship would also need the approval of the master mariner to unload at the terminal.

The legislation would not affect exist- ing requirements that all the tankers have on board a Rhode Island-licensed marine pilot whenever entering Rhode Island waters. The pilot's purpose is to use his or her knowledge of Rhode Island's waters to ensure that the tanker avoids potential obstacles to navigation.

A federal report issued in late 2004 indicated that, while the risk of an inci- dent involving a tanker explosion is low, a fire fed by large amounts of LNG could produce enough heat to burn people and structures a mile away. 20 • MarineNews • June, 2005

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