A large tanker sitting offshore from Cape Ann is one of two such vessels specially built to serve the liquefied natural gas terminal 10 miles south of Gloucester.
The blue tanker, the GDF Suez Neptune, is conducting tests at the soon to be open Neptune LNG terminal, now in the final stages of commissioning and which is expected to be operational by next month.
While GDF Suez North America prepares to open Neptune, the company's Distrigas facility in Everett welcomed the tanker Maran Gas Coronis yesterday morning with the first shipment of liquefied natural gas to arrive safely in Massachusetts from the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen.
The 935-foot Coronis made its way through Boston Harbor, under the Tobin Bridge and to a storage area in Everett in the pre-dawn hours yesterday under heavy security on the water, on land and in the air.
LNG deliveries from Yemen, a country described as a terrorist haven, were approved by the U.S. Coast Guard earlier this month after a nearly year-long review and despite objections from public officials, including Boston Mayor Tom Menino and House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
They and others have pushed for an offshore terminal that would let the tankers offload their cargo without entering the heavily populated inner harbor.
Security measures included an offshore search of the vessel.
When it opens for business, Neptune is also expected to offload shipments from Yemen as well as other countries of origin.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report by Patrick Anderson, who can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
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