The fabrication of a U. S. Government Cargo Ship named the Marlene Hitch, delivered during July 1945 in Duluth MN, unknowingly issued in the groundwork for the world-changing commercial activities of exporting Liquefied Natural GAS (LNG) as a viable energy source. The vessel later renamed the Methane Pioneer, shown in Figure 1, was refitted for LNG transport, and designed to carry 5000 m3 (31,450 Bbls) of LNG equivalent to some 2,335 tonnes (110 MMscf). Her maiden voyage was from Constock's LNG production facility on the Calcasieu River in Louisiana, carrying the world's first ocean cargo of LNG. It left port on 25 January 1959 and reached its destination at Canvey Island in England on 20 February, taking 27 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean. [Keep reading]
