LNG cruise ship coming to Port Canaveral fuels concerns of some local residents

The future is coming to Port Canaveral in 2020 with a new 21st-century, state-of-the-art cruise ship that runs on liquefied natural gas. And that has Mary Hillberg very nervous.

Hillberg, a Merritt Island resident and longtime environmental activist, worries about leaks, environmental damage, explosions and destruction not far from her home at what will be the first port in North America to host an LNG cruise ship.

"I do indeed have grave concerns regarding the safety of LNG fuel at Port Canaveral," she told FLORIDA TODAY recently. "This is an unnecessary risk for our port and community. My most pressing problems are the risk to the safety of thousands of people on the cruise ships, working at our port, living in our nearby community, as well as the critical infrastructure involved and the overall greenhouse gas increase."

LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state, at about minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit, for shipping and storage. When it warms up and reverts to gas, the vapors are flammable. Proponents claim the hazards are less than for gasoline, diesel and other liquid fuels, and that, when spilled on the ground or water, LNG vaporizes quickly and leaves no residues.

Port Canaveral officials insist Hillberg and other critics of LNG like her have nothing to fear. They say LNG has been used for decades in Europe to power ships, with a "tremendous safety record," and swear that the process of fueling LNG-powered cruise ships at Port Canaveral will be perfectly safe and environmentally friendly.

In Europe, for example, the fueling of large ferries and other passenger vessels powered by LNG takes place near public areas, according to Canaveral Fire Rescue Chief David Sargeant, whose department's jurisdiction includes the Port Canaveral area. And, according to the port, "LNG as a marine fuel has been safely powering ship engines since 1959."

Notwithstanding, Hillberg and a group of other local residents say they are going to  press for answers from the port and more solid assurances that safety issues will be addressed before Port Canaveral begins hosting the LNG-fueled ships.

Canaveral Port Authority Commissioner Bob Harvey said he has been getting considerable interest from the community since it was announced last month that Carnival will be basing its still-unnamed ship at Port Canaveral, beginning in 2020. 

Not only will it be Carnival's largest ship and its first ship powered by liquefied natural gas, it also will be the first North American-based LNG cruise ship operated by any cruise line. It will have a capacity of 5,286 passengers, based on double-occupancy of its cabins, and a maximum capacity of 6,500. It is likely to have an onboard crew of about 2,000.

And Carnival may not be alone there for long. Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray told port commissioners that he expects Disney Cruise Line to base two or three of its new LNG-powered ships at Port Canaveral after they come into service in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Initial plans call for the Carnival ship to be fueled while docked at Port Canaveral by a special barge that will come here from Georgia for the fueling process, then return to Georgia. A more permanent LNG storage operation could be developed in the future at Port Canaveral by cruise lines and the LNG industry, although there are no plans underway for that process.

Public safety concerns 

Supporters say the new ships powered by LNG will help boost tourism on the Space Coast and solidify the area as a leader in the cruise industry.

Critics aren't buying that argument.

“Just because it has laudable qualities does not mean that our port is a good place to implement it," said A.J. Serafin of Cape Canaveral, a retired dentist who lives near the port’s Jetty Park and has long been involved in the Cape Canaveral community, where he and his wife have lived for nearly a decade. "While LNG may be the fuel of the future, transferring it this close to a population center is, at best, an ill-conceived idea, at worst, the musings of a moron." 

"In essence, the port is eschewing public safety in favor of a supposed profit," Serafin charged.

Serafin and other skeptics of the new plan say they believe port officials should slow down and more carefully weigh the ramifications of moving toward LNG fueling sites so close to land. 

More:Port Canaveral forges new deal with Carnival Cruise Lines with plans for new terminal

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Some of the critics of LNG at the port also battled — successfully — to halt discussions on a controversial plan to build a rail line over the Banana River to move cargo coming in by ship to Port Canaveral.

In 2016, a diverse group of residents, environmentalists and business leaders rallied against the cargo rail proposal and the controversy grew so heated that it helped lead to the forced resignation of then-Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh, a supporter of the project.

Murray, Walsh’s successor, didn’t pursue the rail plan, but he has been aggressive on expanding the cruise business at Port Canaveral.

Murray said the LNG would be transported to Port Canaveral on the barge from a facility in Elba Island, Georgia.

Fire department prepares

Sargeant said his department has "been preparing for the last two years for LNG," and more than half of his department already is trained in how to handle any potential emergencies related to LNG.

Additional training of Cape Canaveral firefighters, as well as firefighters of other departments that would assist Cape Canaveral, is underway, Sargeant added.

"We believe we can do it. We believe we can do it safely," Sargeant told port commissioners at a recent meeting. "They're not going to fuel and they're not going to do anything in this port until all the authorities having jurisdiction have deemed it safe, and they meet all the regulations."

The cruise industry’s move to LNG follows complaints by environmental groups that have long questioned the sulfur content of what’s known as the heavy bunker oil, a cheaper, though dirtier-burning, fuel traditionally were used by large cruise ships.

Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Wayne Justice, a retired Coast Guard two-star admiral, said use of LNG already is "routine" for cargo ships, including at the Port of Jacksonville.

Advantages vs. concerns

International Maritime Organization regulations took effect in 2017 that capped sulfur content of fuel oil used by ships, but groups still worry about the ships’ emissions.

LNG is considered the cleanest-burning fuel on the market, as well as being less expensive.

ADI Analytics, a research firm focusing on energy, said LNG probably isn’t a good fit for all ships because of the long distances they travel versus the large amount of fuel needed. However, LNG makes sense for cruise ships, ADI says.

“Most cruise ship journeys are relatively short, as the ship will sail for a few number of days and then reach a port where the passengers can enjoy time on the land and the ship can refuel,” ADI said in a recent research paper on LNG. “This helps remedy the problem of lower-fuel density.”

Storage, though, can be a problem. While Europe is growing its LNG storage facilities for its cargo and cruise ships, the situation in the United States is limited.

“Today, the U.S. has one port with LNG bunkering capabilities,” ADI said, “while Europe has no less than 20, almost all located near the North and Baltic seas.”

Ted Lund, a resident of the Cocoa Beach area who has been monitoring issues at the port, contends that, with cruise ships and space companies needing LNG, he believes there are significant environmental and hazard concerns.

"LNG is highly volatile if not kept at a constant temperature." Lund said. "What happens if we get another Irma or worse, and there is a problem with the power and generators for any permanent storage facility? Are we willing to risk an explosion? I know it’s use has been relatively safe in marine applications. But do we want LNG traveling by truck, barge or having a permanent storage facility in our backyards?"

Sarah Hodge, a North Merritt Island resident who also owns a home in Cape Canaveral, said she’s not against LNG, but wants the port to be transparent about its future plans. She contends that the issue seemed to have come out of nowhere, although port officials said they had been talking about it for two years.

Discussions behind closed doors on issues like LNG “are not something that’s going to be tolerated by the public anymore,” Hodge said.

As for LNG itself, Hodge said: “I’m concerned about how they’re going to handle it and how they’re going to store it."

LNG is 'future of cruise'

Harvey said during a recent Canaveral Port Authority meeting that "it is important to drive home the point that the future of the cruise industry is LNG, and so, rather than try to just drag our feet and not get involved, we are leading the way, and we're actually trying to find a way to make this work that is safe for everybody."

According to Port Canaveral, of the 80 new cruise ships are on order through 2027, 26 will operate on LNG fuel, including 11 ordered by Carnival, the world's largest cruise line.

"As the world's second-busiest cruise port, Port Canaveral must have a concept of operations ready to meet the LNG fueling needs of our cruise partners, in addition to the space industry," which plans to use LNG in the future to power launch vehicles, Murray said. "You have to know they're coming here. They're coming to Miami. They're coming to Port Everglades" in Fort Lauderdale with LNG-powered ships.

Harvey said Port Canaveral is "very much involved … in the process of how to refuel these ships" using LNG "and how to do it safely, and the safety processes that are coming along in the industry. It is the future, and it's great that we're leading it, rather than coming along behind."

Murray said he sees the port's role as advising cruise lines on the best approaches to fuel their LNG-powered ships, rather than developing the LNG-fueling process or building its own facilities at the port for that purpose.

"I don't want to be promoting this," Murray told port commissioners. "I just want to facilitate it."

In a statement posted on Port Canaveral's website, the port says that "Port Canaveral will employ widely used and proven best practices to support the safe fueling of clean energies like LNG. Ships powered by LNG will be refueled using a ship-to-ship 'bunkering' process that’s regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard. This is a widely accepted fuel transfer process that’s in use today for supplying petroleum products to vessels."

The port says, in addition to its work with Canaveral Fire Rescue, it has been working for more than a year with the Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the American Bureau of Shipping, Port Canaveral fuel terminal operator Seaport Canaveral, cruise lines and Space Florida "to develop operational, regulatory and technical frameworks to ensure safe handling and storing of LNG at Port Canaveral."

"This is not something that just happened this past week," Murray said.

The port said it wants "to ensure LNG can be safely received, dispensed and stored at the port, just as the port has done for decades with fuel operators supplying petroleum products to ships in our port. The port is working to ensure fuel operators properly develop LNG procedures that comply with all federal, state and local regulations, and build capabilities as needed to safeguard the port and promote this industry initiative."

Barry Compagnoni, the port's senior director of public safety and security and facility security officer, said the port last year hosted a multiple-agency risk assessment workshop on LNG that was led by Shell, which is supplying the LNG to Carnival, and the American Bureau of Shipping.  

“The results of the risk assessment workshop were provided to U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, which determined that the LNG bunkering initiative for Port Canaveral is on track to meeting all safety regulations," Compagnoni said.

He said the port "continues to work with the Coast Guard, Canaveral Fire Rescue, the Canaveral Pilots Association and several other agencies, as well as invest in capabilities in the port to ensure that every component of the proposed LNG bunkering operation complies with all federal, state and local fire and safety regulations.”

Tahir Faruqui, general manager of Shell Global Downstream LNG, said his company is "pleased to work with Port Canaveral, the United States Coast Guard and other stakeholders to bring LNG fuel to market. We look forward to introducing this safe and cleaner fuel for cruise ships operating in Canaveral, one of the first ports in the U.S. to make LNG available as a marine bunker fuel.”

Sargeant said his department plans to deploy a fireboat and establish a "safety zone" whenever LNG fueling takes place at the port, but adds that this process will not interfere with other commercial and private ship traffic.

Sargeant said he is working on a public outreach effort to meet with homeowners' associations and others groups to brief attendees on the plans to keep the LNG operations at the port safe.

Port Authority candidates react

In comments to port commissioners, Maurice Boudreau, a real estate broker and president of the East Merritt Island Homeowners Association, complimented Murray and other port staff on the "fantastic job" in negotiating the contract with Carnival for bringing the new LNG-powered ship to Port Canaveral.

He encouraged the port to "keep the community involved" and informed on future developments related to the issue.

"I'm sure the community will all get on board, the more they learn about it," said Boudreau, who also is the Democratic candidate for District 5 port commissioner in the November election.

Robyn Hattaway, Boudreau's Republican opponent in the election, said she is researching the LNG issue in light of its evolving developments. She also noted LNG already is an accepted ship fuel outside the United States.

Hillberg, the Merritt Island resident, said she would be less concerned if the LNG fueling of the cruise ships took place offshore, rather than near the port cruise terminals.

"This is a very volatile fuel, and this is such a small port," said Hillberg, who also is president of her homeowners' association and chairs the North Merritt Island Dependent Special Advisory Board. "The majority of people don't understand how volatile it is." 

Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY. 

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649

or dberman@floridatoday.com.

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What is LNG?

Liquefied natural gas is a natural gas that is "super-cooled" to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit to become a colorless and odorless liquid. Converting natural gas to LNG reduces its volume by 600 times, allowing for efficient transport over long distances by ship, train or truck. LNG is warmed back to a gaseous state at its destination before being used in a pipeline grid or as transportation fuel.

How will fueling take place?

There will be a ship-to-ship transfer of liquefied natural gas from an special bunker barge moored alongside the outboard side of cruise ship after the cruise ship is safely docked and secured. The LNG will be transferred from the barge to the cruise ship through a 6-inch diameter cryogenic flexible hose with emergency release couplings.

Source: Port Canaveral