The Globe’s Brian McGrory keeps the conversation going on LNG tankers in Boston Harbor as he goes out and see’s for himself.
“Soon enough, the ship’s name, the SCF Polar, was visible, as well as human-sized letters across the ship’s bridge that warned, “No smoking.’’ I wondered if anyone on the crew spoke English. By then, the Polar was right in front of us, so close it felt like you could touch it or smell tobacco on the captain’s breath. Hopefully, the ship’s structure was better than its cosmetics; the thing was begging for a fresh coat of paint.”
“This kind of proximity lent itself to new perspective. I could picture a guy with a rocket launcher in any one of the hundreds of condos or offices on the ship’s path causing a fireball that, despite what Distrigas assures us, would roll from Faneuil Hall to Framingham. And please, spare the details of the ship’s double hull.”
“We hassle old ladies who have shampoo in their carry-on bags at Logan Airport. We bar parking all around the Hancock tower. We strip people of their belts going into government buildings. And we allow a massive ship with liquefied natural gas from a nation like Yemen to sail down fairway-width waterways into some of the most densely populated parts of our region. Terrific.”
