MarAd Announces Commitment for U.S.-Flag Vessels
The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration announced an agreement that could lead to the first LNG ships registered in the United States in almost ten years, potentially creating almost 200 jobs for U.S. mariners. Officials from Woodside Natural Gas, Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., committed to Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton and representatives from seafaring trade unions that Woodside will create a U.S. presence in the rapidly growing international liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet. The company agreed to the employment of U.S. mariners in Woodside’s operation of the proposed OceanWay deepwater port located 28 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, and to register its two new LNG regasification vessels under the U.S. flag.
New Deepwater Port Application Received
Woodside Natural Gas, Inc. (Woodside) filed its application with the United States Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration on August 18, 2006 for a license under the Deepwater Port Act, to build, own and operate a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in California. Woodside’s proposed OceanWay facility will be located approximately 22 miles southwest of Los Angeles, California and will convert the liquefied gas to natural gas utilizing a ship to ship (STS) transfer for injection into Southern California’s existing onshore pipeline system. The process will use ambient air as the method of regasification and will not use either open loop vaporization or closed loop vaporization. The STS transfer of LNG does not require the construction of an offshore platform.
