[Fr. Frank]

An LNG carrier going up would exceed the immediate destructive power of most of the nuclear bombs (not missiles) in our arsenal.
As a Civil Air Patrol Chaplain, we do ongoing training for various potential disasters, both natural and man-made. It was pointed out to us during one of those scenarios that a small LNG carrier such as this one had the potential explosive equivalent of about 600kt, which is greater than our current W88 nuclear warhead, and the larger "5-ball" or "6-ball" LNG carriers easily double that potential.
In perspective, a single LNG carrier exploded by terrorists in the Roads at Newport News at the wrong time could cripple over 25% of our active and 35% or our inactive/reserve Navy warships.