LNG tanker loses power off Cape Cod

 Investigators are trying to determine why a liquefied natural gas tanker temporarily lost power 45 miles east of Boston and 16 miles northeast of Provincetown early Sunday. It was the second such incident in the region involving an LNG tanker this year.

   The 920-foot tanker Suez Matthew was carrying 31 people and a full load of LNG from Trinidad to Boston when it lost propulsion just before midnight. The Coast Guard said the tanker executed a successful test of propulsion by 8:45 a.m. The Coast Guard Cutter Jefferson Island and two commercial tugs escorted the carrier to an anchorage in Broad Sound.

   In February, another LNG tanker, lost power and was adrift for several hours off Cape Cod. According to the Boston Globe, that incident, involving the Catalunya Spirit, was blamed on a computer glitch and the ship had to be towed to port. It took several days to restart its boilers. 

Source: American Shipper