UK special forces deployed to inspect inbound LNG carriers over terrorist threat

Divers working for the UK’s special forces are inspecting LNG carriers bound for Britain over fears Al Qaeda or Islamic State might attach limpet mines to these giant ships.

The UK newspaper Mail on Sunday reported members of the Special Boat Service (SBS) and specialists from the Royal Navy are inspecting ships with LNG, predominantly from Qatar, which are headed for terminals on the Isle of Grain in Kent and at Milford Haven in Wales.

A source told the newspaper: “The threat against gas tankers emerged a couple years ago and we have been training to counter it ever since. The concern is that tankers could be sailed into UK waters and destroyed either with mines or improvised explosive devices [IEDs].”