Page 19: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2005)

April 2005 19 was passed to the U.S. Coast Guard for action. The ship was detained offshore.

Officials from the Coast Guard and the

Customs and Border Protection boarded the ship and quickly located the contain- ers. Customs wanted to bring the con- tainers ashore and examine them with

Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS) technology to determine whether any dispersal devices were in the containers. But, by that time, approximately 40 federal, state, and local agencies and authorities were involved. State and local officials insist- ed that the ship and its suspect contain- ers be kept offshore until all risk of dan- ger was eliminated. The ship was final- ly allowed to dock and unload its cargo on August 6. As a precaution, the con- tainers were fumigated with chlorine dioxide. No "harmful biological sub- stance" was ever located and it now appears that the original e-mail was probably sent by an economic rival of either the exporter or the importer of the lemons. By that time though, the lemons were spoiled and had to be incin- erated.

The full costs have never been com- puted, as they were borne by many dif- ferent organizations, commercial and governmental. The lemons themselves were valued at $70,000. Demurrage costs for the container ship were proba- bly in excess of $150,000. Costs incurred by parties associated with the other "innocent" containers on the ship are unknown, as is the cost incurred by all the federal, state, and local agencies involved. Total costs for what some refer to as "Lemongate" probably approached $1 million.

On September 10, 2002, U.S. Coast

Guard personnel were conducting a rou- tine examination of the container ship

PALERMO SENATOR when their radi- ation detectors were activated. A securi- ty zone was immediately established around the vessel, which had recently arrived in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey from Valencia, Spain. The vessel was escorted to anchorage near the Ambrose

Light Tower where it was fully exam- ined by personnel from the Coast Guard,

Customs Service, FBI, Department of

Energy, and U.S. Navy Seals. It was eventually determined that the radiation was being naturally emitted by a con- tainer carrying clay tiles from Italy.

Low level radiation is sometimes found in clay deposits. It has been reported that the vessel operator incurred demur- rage costs well exceeding $50,000 while the vessel was being examined. Other costs are unknown.

On August 8, 2002, Customs Service personnel in the Port of Miami were conducting a random x-ray examination of a container that had arrived from

Israel. The x-ray and other non-intru- sive tests revealed what appeared to be munitions. The bomb squad was called in and the container was carefully opened. Inside, along with other house- hold goods, were two metal flower pots.

One was made from a spent 155 mm artillery shell and the other was made from part of an exploded test missile.

Neither was dangerous, but a portion of the port was shut down during the inspection. It was eventually learned that the items belonged to an Israeli cit- izen relocating to the Miami area. He had acquired the items in Israel and con- verted them into conversation pieces for his home. Costs incurred in this partial shutdown of a major U.S. port have not been computed.

At about 8:30 pm on Wednesday,

January 26, 2005, Customs and Border

Protection officers in the Port of Los

Angeles were performing a routine inspection of the container ship TOLE-

DO, which had arrived from

Gwangyang, South Korea. The officers were alerted by their personal radiation

Government Update

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MOORING WINCHES --

Our CONGRATULATIONS to Sause Brothers on

Sunset Bay in 2004, and repeat order for 2005 barge. Once again an industry leader has chosen

Rapp Hydema

TOWING WINCHES -- recent order for M/V Saturn matches winches supplied to Western Towboat

RESEARCH & SPECIALITY WINCHES --

This hydrographic is but one of several types aboard NOAA’s FRV-40 Oscar Dyson

UMBILICAL WINCHES -- this one aboard Fugro

McLelland’s M/V Bucentaur

Towing, Mooring, Umbilical,

Oceanographic and other Winches

Celebrating

OTC in Houston , Texas

May 2-5, 2005

Booth # 4441

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