A Web search unearthed media reports from the period just after 9/11 that pointed to one very attractive potential target. Each week, a ship more than three football fields long, 150 feet wide, and 12 stories high, loaded with 30 million gallons of liquefied natural gas, sails into Boston Harbor. (Liquefied natural gas is natural gas frozen to –260 degrees Fahrenheit, making it six hundred times as dense as its normal volume so that it can be shipped economically.) The vessel steams through the inner harbor of Boston and under the Tobin Bridge — a major vehicle artery into Boston — and ties up at an LNG facility at the mouth of the Mystic River.
After the attacks on the Twin Towers, Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Christian and several fire chiefs from the neighboring communities met with Boston’s mayor, Thomas Menino, to brief him on the destruction that could be wrought should a terrorist strike at one of these ships. They told the mayor that they had a limited ability to respond to such a scenario, which would place the lives of thousands of their citizens in danger. After the briefing, Mayor Menino publicly called for a ban on LNG deliveries.
The Coast Guard responded by denying entry to the Norwegian- operated LNG tanker Matthew on September 27, 2001, while it reviewed the matter. The agency then put in place new requirements. These include requiring vessels carrying LNG to stay in constant communication with the Coast Guard from the time they sail from their port of departure until they arrive offshore. Inspectors board LNG tankers as they approach Boston Harbor and examine them before allowing them to enter the port. There is an expanded legal zone around the ship that other vessels are prohibited from entering, and several Coast Guard small boats are assigned to escort LNG boats on their harbor transits. Bridge traffic is shut down, and flights to Logan are diverted until the ship passes. The Boston Police Department and Massachusetts State Police also step up their shore patrols whenever an LNG-carrying tanker is in the harbor.
For a while these new security measures helped to quiet down the furor, but in November 2003 Menino renewed his call for an end to LNG shipments after US government scientists confirmed that an LNG tanker attack would have dire consequences. Menino accused federal and industry officials of playing “Russian roulette” with the safety of the city.
Even though the ruckus had largely quieted down, there continued to be calls to close down the Everett facility. Securing the ships’ transits had become routine — which meant, from a terrorist’s perspective, that they were potentially vulnerable to a surprise attack. Khalid also liked the symbolism of striking so close to Logan airport, which had served as one of the stepping-off points of the 9/11 attacks. If they succeeded, it would help reinforce the message that committed jihadists could strike where and when they pleased.
On the West Coast, San Pedro Bay is home to a massive port complex shared by Los Angeles and Long Beach. Surfing the Internet, Nabih discovered that all the main pipelines to the major refineries are located on the Long Beach side of the harbor. This meant that large oil tankers, such as the 300,000 ton Limburg, would have to enter from the sea by way of the Long Beach channel. If the main channel could be blocked by a sabotaged tanker and the resultant massive oil spill, other ships would not be able to enter or leave. Containing the oil spill and salvaging the sunken vessel would be a daunting and time-consuming challenge.
