- NEWARK, N.J. - Pentagon
officials confirmed to Fox News Thursday that Navy SEALs had been, and
were still, involved in the inspection of a possibly radioactive container
ship off the coast of New Jersey.
The Liberian-flagged M/V Palermo Senator was ordered back to sea by the
Coast Guard Wednesday after traces of radioactivity were found in the hold
during a routine inspection at the Port of Newark.
The 708-foot freighter, owned by a German subsidiary of South Korea-based
Hanjin shipping, was anchored in an exclusion zone six miles from shore.
U.S. Navy radiation specialists from the submarine base in Groton, Conn.,
were heading to the ship, the Pentagon sources said.
The defense officials emphasized that "the concern level is not rising"
about the ship. They added that the inspection was not linked to any intelligence
about a vessel carrying illicit nuclear materials to the U.S., and that
the presence of Navy personnel was a precaution.
Sandra Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Newark FBI office, told the Associated
Press that investigators from the U.S. Department of Energy were to conduct
testing either on or near the ship Thursday.
The Palermo Senator had stopped in Singapore, Malaysia and Egypt, among
other destinations, before docking at Newark on Tuesday.
Authorities would not say what the readings were, or whether they were
at levels considered dangerous.
Inspectors had hoped to test the ship Wednesday, but high seas whipped
by 55 mph winds made that impossible, Carroll said.
It was not immediately known what form the tests would take, or whether
they would be carried out on board the ship or from vessels near it. Officials
at the Energy Department did not immediately return a call seeking comment
Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62897,00.html
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