Port of Charleston Reopens After ‘Dirty Bomb’ Threat
A terminal at the Port of Charleston, S.C., will reopen and the safety zone has been lifted, the U.S. Coast Guard said June 15, after investigating a threat of a "dirty bomb" on a containership.
It said the "original reporting source of the threat" had been detained for questioning.
Law enforcement agents scanned four containers aboard the Maersk Memphis ship in the Wando Terminal after reports of a "potential threat" on June 14, the Coast Guard said.
Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, said the U.S. Coast Guard had informed it of a threat of a dirty bomb aboard one of its vessels. It said all crew members were safe and ashore.
"Unified Command determines no existing threat to the port. Terminal will reopen and safety zone has been lifted," the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter.
The Maersk Memphis, a 300-meter vessel, arrived in South Carolina from New York on June 14 at about 7:30 p.m, according to Reuters data. About half an hour later, authorities were made aware of the potential threat and evacuated the terminal, the Coast Guard said.
"The vessel was immediately evacuated and all crew is safe and ashore. We are cooperating fully with the authorities handling the situation," Maersk said in a statement.
The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement that authorities were made aware of the potential threat in a container aboard the vessel at about 8 p.m. local time and that the terminal had been evacuated.
The vessel arrived at the port from New York and prior to that sailed from Oman, according to ThomsonReuters data.
#update Unified Command determines no existing threat to the port. Terminal will reopen and safety zone has been lifted. — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 15, 2017
#update the original reporting source of the threat in port of Charleston has been detained by authorities for further questioning. — USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 15, 2017
Thanks to the great work of federal, state and local partners and the cooperation of the ILA, Wando Terminal is open for business this am. — Jim Newsome (@jnewsome3) June 15, 2017
