Explosion Reported at Freeport LNG Facility in Texas

An explosion was reported at the Freeport LNG export facility near Freeport, Texas, closing a portion of the Intracoastal Waterway to marine traffic, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

No injuries were reported and there appears to be no theat to the public or local communities.

The explosion occurred at about 11:40 a.m. at the Freeport LNG plant on Quintana Island.

The cause of the explosion is unknown.

The Coast Guard said it was enforcing a 2-mile security zone east and west of the facility on the Intracoastal Waterway, however the security zone has since been lifted.

Freeport LNG Development was formed in 2002 to develop, own and operate an LNG terminal on Quintana Island, near Freeport, Texas. The terminal started LNG imports in June 2008. In 2019, the facility became the fifth plant in the country to begin exporting LNG to global markets.

The facility operates three LNG trains capable of producing approximately 15 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of LNG. The majority of LNG produced is contracted under 20-year tolling agreements with customers in Japan.

The terminal is the largest fully electric motor drive natural gas liquefaction plant in the world, which can reduce emissions by over 90% compared to plants using combustion turbines.

Some video of the incident response is below:

Subscribe for Daily Maritime Insights

Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update

— trusted by our 107,145 members