The liquefied natural gas industry in the United States is currently facing challenges in obtaining approvals for new receiving terminals. A factor of concern at public meetings relates to the potential hazards associated with marine transport accidents or terrorist events. The purpose of this study is to develop a range of well-conceived maximum credible failure cases from accidental or terrorism causes and to predict hazard zones using a well-validated model. Hazard zones that are presented in this paper tend to fall below many of the values previously quoted. Although additional experimental trials may be warranted, current results are of sufficient confidence to draw valid conclusions. (c) 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process.