www.esryle.com
Posted on 06/11/2004 11:11:51 AM PDT by esryle
SOUTHWORTH, Wash. -- An apparatus resembling an incendiary device was removed from a small boat near the state ferry terminal in this Kitsap Peninsula town early Friday after six ferry runs were canceled, authorities said.
The device was a motorcycle-type battery about half the size of a car battery with wires leading into a brown bottle about eight ounces in size, Washington State Patrol Lt. Helmut Steele said. The bottle was less than half full of an unknown liquid, he added.
A bomb squad "rendered the device safe" and it was removed for further investigation, including identification of the liquid, Steele said. He would not say how the apparatus was neutralized or taken from the scene.
Ferry crews were cleared shortly before 3 a.m. PDT to resume service between Southworth, east of Port Orchard, and Vashon Island, west of Seattle in Puget Sound, ferry system spokeswoman Susan Huether-Harris said.
Three runs in each direction were canceled after a passenger getting off the ferry noticed a 12-foot aluminum skiff tied to the dock at the terminal about 9:45 p.m. Thursday and alerted a crew member who took a closer look and spotted the device, Steele said.
A crew member untied the small boat from the dock, and it drifted onto a nearby beach and was tied to a piece of driftwood by the time the first state troopers arrived, he said.
Ownership of the skiff was under investigation.
No written threats or warning notes were found, nor did investigators know of any earlier verbal threats, security problems or other sign of trouble at the ferry terminal, Steele said.
Southworth-Vashon ferry service is part of a run linking West Seattle, Vashon and Southworth. Service between Vashon and the Fauntleroy dock in West Seattle was not affected.
Other ferry runs and overland roads link the Seattle area and the Kitsap Peninsula.
Ferry riders can go to the Washington State Ferries Web site for more information.
Ping!
Yikes! What do you suppose this is all about?
Apparently it takes a passenger. The WA State Ferry crew wasn't looking. They must be Osama Mama Murrayniks.
What an odd story....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.