SAN JUAN, PR — Seven maritime pilots are suing a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy (NFE) over “serious safety concerns” with changes to LNG navigation maneuvers in San Juan Bay. They also allege that the commission meant to oversee maritime pilots tried to silence them when they attempted to raise the alarm about the changes.

In a complaint filed on August 31, seven pilots from the San Juan Bay Pilots Corporation claim that NFEnergía, NFE’s Puerto Rico-based subsidiary, is “demanding” they use “lesser capacity” tugboats to maneuver LNG vessels through the bay. The lawsuit further alleges that previously agreed upon standards between the corporation and NFEnergía are being discarded “in an unprecedented push to save costs at the expense of safety.”

“NFE's unilateral actions constitute a breach of the agreement with the San Juan Bay Pilots and a violation of industry safety standards, and present an imminent risk to life, property, and navigation within San Juan Harbor,” the lawsuit reads.

NFE has been under financial difficulties as of late, recently selling its business in Jamaica and failing to close a $20 billion gas supply deal with the Puerto Rican government. Another of the company’s subsidiaries, Genera PR, has been operating power plants owned by the archipelago’s power company since 2023.

Because of the increasing demand for LNG in Puerto Rico, earlier in 2025, NFE started employing vessels five times as large as those previously used, according to local reports. The complaint says San Juan Bay Pilots were first approached in May 2023 about using the larger vessels. Afterwards, the pilots and NFE undertook almost two years of simulations and detailed technical analyses to ensure the safety of the maneuvers in the bay, according to the lawsuit.

However, once the pilots were informed of the change in the tugboat configuration, only one out of the eight pilots from the corporation stated that he was willing to perform the maneuvers, the lawsuit claims.

The first maneuver with this new configuration was scheduled for mid-August using the Energos María, an LNG vessel. When the seven plaintiffs sent a letter with their concerns to the eighth pilot, NFE, the Pilotage Commission, and the vessel’s owners, they received a cease-and-desist letter from the Commission’s president shortly after. The lawsuit claims that this action was undertaken without alerting the Commissioners and after she received a letter from NFEnergia’s terminal manager asking that the operation be allowed to continue under “normal established procedures.” At the time, the president had only been in her position for 15 days, according to the complaint. 

“She did not possess the necessary technical preparation to adopt the measure she took, which created and continues to create a risk to the People of Puerto Rico by attempting to restrict the rights and duties of pilots without affording due process. She also lacked any knowledge of the simulations, studies, and facts that led to the agreement between NFE and the San Juan Bay pilots,” the lawsuit claims. 

The pilots also received a cease-and-desist letter from a law firm representing one of the companies who own the tugboats to be used in the new configuration on the same day.

On August 16, the eighth pilot undertook the maneuver using four tugboats from the two new companies while the previously used tugboats were standing by. He and his brother, also a pilot, were later invited to participate in two days’ worth of safety simulations in Spain in late August, and the Commission’s president issued an authorization for both of them to attend, according to the complaint. The complaint claims this action was done without the participation of one of the Commissioners.

Nearly a week later, the seven pilots submitted a formal letter to the Commission requesting the simulations be postponed, citing the “vast difference” between the previous simulations and the new ones, according to the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit requests a temporary restraining order against NFEnergía to not remove the old tugboats until all parties involved agree on the equipment to be used in maneuvers in the San Juan Bay through empirically tested studies and peer-reviewed simulations. The seven pilots also request the Commission's president be stopped from issuing orders without the participation of the Commissioners. 

The Coast Guard said that their most recent captaincy’s orders leave the tugboat configuration to a pilot’s expertise. It is up to the pilot to ensure they have a sufficient amount of tugboats with the necessary capacity for their maneuvers.

NFE is also currently facing a class action lawsuit from investors that are attempting to recover damages from the company for allegedly violating federal securities laws. That lawsuit alleges the company’s Altamira FLNG project was “constructed in a manner that risked a catastrophic safety disaster.” Communities surrounding NFE’s facilities have long warned about the facilities lacking permits and possible safety issues that could affect them.

Neither the seven pilots nor their lawyers responded to a request for comment. The eighth pilot also did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The San Juan Bay Pilots Corporation, the Pilotage Commission of Puerto Rico, and NFE did not respond to requests for comment either. Owners of the new tugboats and the Energos María did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The lawsuit and associated exhibits can be found here.

Carlos Berríos Polanco is a journalist from Puerto Rico who covers climate, conflict, and their intersection.

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