System for transporting compressed gas over water

A system for transporting nonliquified compressed natural gas over water from a shipping point to a receiving facility, said system comprising:

• a seagoing vessel having a deck;
• a compressed gas storage system disposed only on and above said deck so that minor gas leaks are vented to the atmosphere to prevent dangerous gas build-up, said storage system including:
• a plurality of lengths of standard oil field pipeline type pipes with each length having first and second ends;
• means for capping the first and second ends of each of said lengths of pipe to form a like plurality of storage elements and to prevent leakage of non-liquified compressed natural gas therefrom;
• a manifold having a like plurality of transfer ports and a receiving/delivery port, said receiving/delivery port adapted to receive non-liquified compressed natural gas from a shipping port storage facility and to deliver compressed gas to the receiving facility;
• and
• means, disposed on each storage element, for connecting said storage element to a respective one of said transfer ports so that non-liquified compressed natural gas may be transported between said receiving/delivery port and said storage elements.