"By 2007 Milford Haven is set to receive up to one LNG super-tanker a day. These will be the biggest LNG ships ever built. These vast vessels have attracted controversy ever since it was revealed that Milford Haven would be unable to follow industry "essential best practice" as laid down by the Society of International Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO).
Contrary to SIGTTO advice, LNG marine berths are to be sited in the narrow main shipping channel at the entrance to Britain's fourth busiest port without adequate ignition exclusion zones either around the jetty head or under the jetty itself."
and:
"Pilots Concerns
Retired shipping pilots, well versed in the manoeuvring of massive tankers in the Haven, have added to the industry's problems by saying that they believe the current set-up means that an LNG shipping collision is a "real, everyday possibility" if the operating companies and the Port Authority continue to turn their back on internationally-accepted best practice.
The Health and Safety Executive pointed out that an LNG shipping accident could lead to a vast, heavier-than-air flammable gas cloud drifting onto one of the Haven's busy towns, but HSE safety experts did not complete their assessment of LNG shipping dangers after advice from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that the ship was not "in scope" for their studies.
The Port Authority took over assessment of LNG shipping risks and is relying on the operators' own risk assessments as well as some smaller studies that they have themselves commissioned."