U.S. agents investigate container at Port Newark (shower ON)

NorthJersey.com ^ | 9/11/2002 | Mitchel Maddux

[Sender]

U.S. Coast Guard personnel and federal agents were examining a cargo ship at Port Newark on Tuesday night after it triggered a radioactivity detector during a search, officials said.

The radioactivity seemed to be coming from either cargo containers or from the ocean-going ship itself, which was at a wharf at the Maersk Sealand terminal, an official familiar with the incident said.

Specialists from the U.S. Department of Energy were at the scene, along with FBI agents and others, the official said.

At press time, authorities had not issued a finding on the source of the radioactivity.

The Palermo Senator is a 708-foot cargo ship sailing under a Liberian flag, said Michael Hvordza, a Coast Guard spokesman.

The incident began at 6 a.m. when the Coast Guard routinely inspected the vessel off Sandy Hook, the official familiar with the incident said. He said inspectors heard noises from a cargo area and initially suspected stowaways. But a later survey picked up readings of a possibly radioactive substance, the official said.

Officials were considering calling in a Nuclear Emergency Search team including scientists, weapons design specialists, and electronics technicians. They also were weighing towing the ship out to sea as the probe continued, another official said.

The Palermo Senator is owned by Senator Lines. It began its voyage from South Korea on July 31. On Aug. 22, it stopped at Port Suez in Egypt, before heading to Europe en route to Newark, according to the company's Web site.

[Sender]

Sorry if this is already posted, I couldn't find it. Probably nothing but...could be series.

[Black Agnes]

Shower alert!!!

[grobdriver]

My God - could this ship be carrying, or be itself, some sort of dirty atomic bomb?
Tow it out to sea! Quick!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Sorry, but at least today, the humor angle is really falling flat.

[Constitution Day]

Yep.

[CFW]

By Associated Press, 9/11/2002 10:23
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) A ship detained after traces of radioactivity were detected in its cargo was temporarily ordered back to sea, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The Liberian-flagged container ship, the M/V Palermo Senator, was ordered to stay in a security zone six miles offshore while the inspection continues.

The ship was directed to Berth 92 at the Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal after a Coast Guard team boarded the vessel Tuesday. Team members heard suspicious sounds in several of the ship's cargo holds, but they could not determine their source.

While no evidence of stowaways was found, they determined that the ship's cargo posed a potential risk to public safety.

Officials would not provide any details about the cargo.

Capt. Craig Bone, the Coast Guard's top official at the port, said in a statement that the boat will remain offshore ''until the condition of its cargo can be ascertained and safely offloaded.''

[mewzilla]

They've sent the ship off to sea, six miles off Newark. According to CNN they've heard reports that tests were positive and that the tests were inconclusive. But since the ship's six miles off shore, that at least means we can interrogate the crew, right?

[Steve0113]

* ping *

Is this the story you were talking about?

[Petronski]

that at least means we can interrogate the crew, right?

I like your style.

[Constitutional Patriot]

Six miles doesn't make those of us in Jersey City, NJ feel any safer. They should move the vessel 50+ miles away and, if necessary, send them to the bottom.

[walkingdead]

Where is this Port Newark at? My brother is in the Coast Guard in Baltimore. Heck, he may be on it, that is if Port Newark is anywhere near Maryland.

[nina0113]

guess so - still haven't seen it anywhere else

[11B3]

Wonderful - it went to Egypt.....

[Conservababe]

The juvenile humor angle falls flat on most days.

[Sender]

Sorry, humor is now OFF.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

But since the ship's six miles off shore, that at least means we can interrogate the crew, right?

How far out do they have to go to be in international waters? I think it's a lot more than six miles.

[Black Agnes]

Ya, I hear you. Fortunately for US, the wind is blowing west---east today so if something *did* happen, lawn guyland would get it.

[AdA$tra]

Sorry, but at least today, the humor angle is really falling flat.

I am trying to keep my sense of humor intact. Otherwise, we lose and they win.

[Rockitz]

In a related story, a boatload of attorneys has just left port headed toward the ship.

[John H K]

Newark is Newark NJ, on the opposite side of the Hudson from NYC. One of the largest sea ports in the country. New York City itself basically has no cargo shipping at all anymore, basically.

There are a lot of things that are radioactive to some degree. Mere presence of radioactivity doesn't mean a nuke or dirty bomb is about. Odds are overwhelming that it turns out to be nothing.

Depending on the type of granite, if you work in a granite building a radioactivity detector would register pretty high if you just brought it inside, for example.