Artificial Island Needed for Proposed LNG Terminal

According to Asbury Park Press, an investment group proposing to build an offshore liquid natural gas terminal 19 miles east of Sea Bright is preparing specific design details for the artificial island, and may make more plans public in the coming weeks. Safe Harbor and its parent company, the Atlantic Sea Island Group, propose building a 53-to-65-acre island in about 60 feet of water 13.5 miles south of Long Beach, N.Y. The island would be an offloading and storage terminal for liquified natural gas tankers, which would pump out their ultra-cold fuel for processing and delivery via undersea pipeline to the mainland. The company is starting its regulatory applications this spring, and says it could build the site by 2010. In this region, LNG terminals are proposed for Long Island Sound and at Logan Township on the Delaware River. The Atlantic Sea Island Group raised $10m in private equity last September to fund its venture. Early island design considerations cited by the company include two berths for LNG tankers, four storage tanks with 180,000 cubic meters capacity each, and capacity to vaporize and send up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. (Source: Asbury Park Press)