Massive Response at NJ Port After Stowaways Suspected in Cargo Container

Source: NBC4

The U.S. Coast Guard suspects there are stowaways in a container that was loaded on a ship docked at Port Newark in New Jersey Wednesday.

Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe says the container was loaded aboard The Villa D'Aquarius in India. The manifest says the container was carrying machine parts to be unloaded in Norfolk, Va.

Rowe says a boarding party heard sounds consistent with people coming from the container. Ship crew members told the Coast Guard that there were several stowaways on board, an official familiar with the situation tells NBC 4 New York.

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The ship began its voyage several weeks ago in Pakistan. Rowe says its last port was in Egypt.

Read more: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Investigation-Stowaway-Ship-Port-Newark-Pakistan-Egypt-160509615.html

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"We have no information on the individuals, and we're not 100 percent sure that there are people in there until we open it," Rowe told CBS New York station WCBS-TV.


Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were notified to meet the vessel. It docked at Port Newark Wednesday morning.


The boarding party didn't open the container at sea in order to control the situation, Rowe told WCBS-TV. An effort is being made to see if the container can be safely opened from the ship's hull, if containers need to be moved on the ship or if the container needs to be off-loaded onto the dock, Rowe told CBS Radio News.


Customs officials told WCBS-TV it could take up to two hours to remove the ship's cargo.

more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57461638/stowaways-suspected-on-container-ship-in-n.j/

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Officers from the federal Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the Coast Guard and the Port Authority are on board the ship determining when and where the container can be safely unloaded and opened, Rowe said.

Emergency crews and ambulances are on scene off Mohawk Street.

State Police has boats in the water in case people try to swim away.

Port Authority Police are on the dock, where the container will be opened, Della Fave said.

It's unclear whether the container the stowaways are in were picked up in Pakistan or Egypt.

Longshoremen DeShea Best said she and other longshoremen who arrived for their 8 a.m. shifts learned of the stowaway situation before the ship docked at 8:30 a.m. There are two dozen officers at the dock waiting for the container to be offloaded.

more: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/stowaways_might_be_on_ship_doc.html