Yemen to Boston Gas Shipment Raises Terror Concerns

When passengers allegedly linked to Al Qaeda from Yemen try to blow up US airliners on Christmas Day people become concerned. The local Boston US Coast guard has been reported as intensifying their examination of procedures and regulations in anticipation of a Yemen natural gas tanker delivery scheduled for February, 2010.

Authorities have not committed to a decision on if the tanker will be granted access to the sensitive harbor or not. If allowed the tanker would dock at the LNG terminal in Everett. According to staff writers Donovan Slack, Andrea Estes, and Jonathan Saltzman of the Boston Herald, “House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, whose hometown, Winthrop, abuts Boston Harbor, called the imminent arrival of ships from Yemen “a matter of grave concern for Boston Harbor communities.’’

Mayor Thomas M. Menino has also expressed concerns over the expected shipment. The suspect that is thought to have attempted to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from Nigeria. Russel Goldman and Huma Khan from ABC News reported that, “In hindsight, there were clues that alleged would-be “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had become a dangerous person, and President Obama has said that it was “unacceptable” that those clues weren’t spotted and acted upon.

During Abdulmutallab’s transformation from the privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian banker to an al Qaeda trainee being taught to kill, he left a series of red flags. Now American and international law enforcement officials are trying to determine how Abdulmutallab was able to come so close to causing more terror in the skies.”

Distrigas of Massachusetts is responsible for the scheduling the shipment back in 2005. The Globe Reports, “Distrigas’s parent company, GDF Suez Energy North America, arranged for the Yemeni shipments in 2005, when the company signed an agreement to import 2.5 million tons annually over 20 years, with a significant portion of the shipments destined for Massachusetts.”

Some in the national security business think that Al Qaeda operatives have been sneaking into the country by way of Boston bound gas tankers.

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