Boston Harbor simulator, and blowing stuff up

This headline got my attention in yesterday’s Boston Herald: “Tanker may be blown up to test Harbor worst-case scenario.” Besides a general boyish interest in things blowing up, this story of course involves the LNG tankers that motor right alongside downtown Boston (and my temporary apartment) en route to their terminal. Their theoretical explosive power is truly awesome. The route wasn’t a great idea in the first place; it seems quite nuts after 9/11. The Coast Guard shuts the whole harbor down during the LNG transit, but what about a bad guy with a missile? At any rate, according to the article, “A major fuel company is in talks to blow up an LNG tanker in the ocean in a first-of-its-kind test that could answer questions about what might happen if one of the fuel-filled ships were attacked in Boston Harbor.” I couldn’t find anything more online but did come across this interesting page about LNG crews using a simulator of the Boston Harbor transit. I’ve seen a couple of these high end simulators now—one at Maine Maritime, and one at a Norwegian maritime academy—and they seemed like extremely valuable learning tools. I wonder if recreational boaters will ever get the benefits of something like this? Have a nice weekend, and steer wide of LNG tankers.