From Darwin Port’s 18-Year Leak Scandal: Insights into the "Anti-Routine" Safety Practices of China’s LNG Terminals

In September 2025, news about an LNG storage tank at Australia’s Darwin Port sent shockwaves through the global energy industry. Built in 2006 and once hailed as the "world’s largest LNG storage tank," this core facility had been quietly leaking methane for 18 years. More outrageously, the operator and regulatory authorities covered up the truth for years, allowing this potent greenhouse gas—86 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat over a 20-year period—to continue emitting. It not only threatens the lives of residents in Darwin, 7 kilometers away, but also acts as an "invisible killer" for climate governance.

While "post-incident cover-up" has become a fig leaf for industry scandals, China’s Tianjin LNG Terminal has adopted a completely different safety logic, achieving over 1,133 days of operation without major leakage accidents. As a core hub ensuring energy supply in North China, it handles massive volumes of LNG reception, storage, and transportation daily. The key to safeguarding this safety lies in the TDLAS laser monitoring "pre-warning" system developed by Guoke Hanhai.

Making Leak Hazards "Nowhere to Hide"

The tragedy at Darwin Port essentially stems from a safety mindset of "passive response"—choosing to conceal leaks rather than proactively address them. In contrast, Tianjin LNG Terminal established a "proactive defense" logic from the outset: using technology to move the safety line forward to the "early stage of leakage."

Guoke Hanhai’s TDLAS laser monitoring system is like equipping the terminal with "clairvoyance" and "clairaudience." At key risk points such as storage tank areas, metering and transportation zones, and tank truck loading/unloading areas, fixed scanning laser telemeters provide 360° full coverage. Even tiny leaks with a methane concentration of just 382ppm can be accurately located within 0.1 seconds. Reflective laser detectors keep a close watch on leak-prone parts like flanges and valves, with a monitoring range of up to 1,000 meters ensuring no blind spots in long-distance pipelines. Solar-powered IoT monitoring terminals solve the problem of monitoring in outdoor areas without power supply, achieving true "full-area coverage with no gaps."

During a night inspection in February 2024, the system suddenly captured abnormal data from a flange joint on the top of Tank 5, triggering a hierarchical early warning in the background immediately. Staff rushed to the scene with portable laser detectors and completed leak disposal within 15 minutes. "If we had waited until the leak was visible to the naked eye or detectable by smell, the leak volume might have expanded dozens of times," said the safety director of Tianjin LNG Terminal. His words highlight the fundamental gap between the two safety logics: Darwin Port gambled that "leaks wouldn’t cause accidents," while Tianjin LNG relies on "detecting all hidden dangers in advance."

Data Is the Hard Evidence of Safety

Beyond the enterprise’s fluke mentality, the core crux of the Darwin Port scandal lies in the "no monitoring, no repair, no accountability" under inadequate supervision. The storage tank was approved for use until 2050, yet no repairs or monitoring were required. This "turning a blind eye" supervision ultimately led to an 18-year environmental disaster.

The practice of Tianjin LNG Terminal proves that technically empowered precise supervision is the key to safety. Guoke Hanhai’s monitoring system not only provides real-time early warnings but also enables full-process data traceability. Information such as methane concentration data, leak warning records, and disposal process accounts is uploaded to the cloud management platform in real time, supporting remote monitoring by managers and providing verifiable objective evidence for regulatory authorities. As of August 2025, the platform has accumulated over 10 million valid data records with no missing or abnormal data, completely eliminating the possibility of "black-box operations."

More importantly, the system seamlessly connects with the terminal’s emergency linkage system. Once the detected leak concentration reaches the preset threshold, the system automatically triggers a series of emergency measures such as sound and light alarms, emergency valve shutdowns, and ventilation equipment activation. The response time is reduced by more than 90% compared to traditional manual operations. This closed loop of "monitoring - early warning - disposal" makes safety no longer rely on "human responsibility" but on "the hard logic of technology."

The "Technological Confidence" of China’s Energy Security

As a high-tech enterprise with 15 years of experience in laser gas monitoring, Guoke Hanhai’s technology is far from "theoretical." At PetroChina’s Shanjing Line 4, the equipment has operated safely for 8 consecutive years; in the Beijing Gas project, it has achieved 10 years of zero major failures. The over 1,133 days of safe operation at Tianjin LNG Terminal is just another validation of its technical strength.

Targeting the special working conditions of the LNG industry—low temperature, high pressure, and high humidity—Guoke Hanhai has specially optimized the equipment’s anti-interference performance and environmental adaptability. It operates stably in extreme temperatures ranging from -40℃ to 60℃, and its IP68 protection rating easily resists coastal salt spray corrosion. Even in severe weather such as typhoons and heavy rains, monitoring accuracy remains unaffected. This "localized" technical optimization is the core capability of Chinese enterprises in solving practical problems.

The 18-year leak scandal at Darwin Port serves as a wake-up call for the entire industry: energy security is never a "game of chance," nor can it be muddled through with "post-incident cover-ups." The pre-warning system built by Guoke Hanhai using TDLAS laser technology not only brings "zero leakage" safety guarantee to Tianjin LNG Terminal but also proves to the world that achieving "precise monitoring, real-time early warning, and data traceability" through technological innovation is the fundamental way to safeguard energy security.

Today, driven by the dual requirements of the dual carbon goals and safe development, the LNG industry is facing an urgent need for safety upgrades. Guoke Hanhai’s technology has been applied in numerous LNG terminals, oil and gas pipelines, and offshore wind farms across China, building an "invisible defense line" for China’s energy security with hard technology.