Saturday, October 19, 2002

BY SCOTT WYMAN, DAVID FLESHLER AND JEFF SHIELDS South Florida Sun-Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.-Coast Guard officers escorted a freighter into Port Everglades and began searching its cargo on Friday after receiving intelligence information that the ship might be carrying explosives for use in a terrorist attack.

After being held offshore for 11 hours, the Maren Maersk, which had sailed from Charleston, was brought into Port Everglades about 6 p.m. so some of its 2,000-plus containers could be unloaded and searched. Investigators were using high-tech X-ray machines and radiation detectors and did not expect to complete their inspection until early this morning.

Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne said at an 11 p.m. news briefing that drug-sniffing dogs had indicated one container could hold explosives, but a search turned up nothing. Ten containers had been scanned. Another 27 remained to be checked, but U.S. Customs officials said they were not suspicious about the contents.

The 965-foot Maren Maersk can carry up to 4,300 containers the size of 20-foot trailers.

It is owned by Maersk Sealand, one of the world's largest shipping companies.

During the Danish freighter's last port of call Wednesday night in Charleston an undetermined number of containers was loaded and unloaded, port officials said. "We don't know what was in those boxes. We don't keep track of cargo," said Susan Kirkley, Charleston port harbormaster.

Kirkley said the ship was unloaded at a terminal operated by Universal Maritime Services. A man reached Friday night at the company who wouldn't identify himself referred questions to another company in Charlotte. No one answered the number that was provided.

The freighter left Germany Sept. 30 and has made ports of call in Nova Scotia, New York and Virginia. It was scheduled to dock in Oakland, Calif., sometime next month, said Petty Officer John Gaffney, a spokesman for the Coast Guard's 7th District in Miami. Three sources close to the investigation said authorities were trying to determine whether the ship and its cargo are connected to a threat to a Navy base in Hawaii. The threat was that a large shipment of explosives would be delivered to Honolulu for use in a December attack.

Port Everglades remained open even though the Coast Guard delayed docking the vessel until a cruise ship had left the harbor. Officials needed to use the port's gantry cranes to move the containers and determined that bringing_ the ship into port would not be a hazard. "You can't help but take it seriously," said Broward County Administrator Roger Desjarlais, who oversees operations at Port Everglades. "It's pretty disconcerting to have a ship potentially loaded with high explosives coming into our port."

The tip came amid heightened concern that the country could be the target of another terrorist attack. CIA Director George Tenet told a congressional panel this week that the risk of a new attack inside the United States was as great as it was immediately before Sept. 11, 2001. He said Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network was on the move again. According to its shipping schedule, the vessel started its voyage in Le Havre, France, on Oct. 1, and has since stopped in England, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, New York and Virginia. It was bound next for Oakland, Calif.

Sources told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that investigators wanted to inspect containers that were loaded in Europe. The intelligence tip alleged that the shipment of explosives originated in France or Germany.

Among German links to al-Qaida, three of the Sept. 11 hijackers, including Mohamed Atta, were part of a terrorist cell based in Hamburg. German authorities also have said suspected Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui received money for flight school fees from a Hamburg-based cell member.

This week, news media in Hawaii reported that the FBI's Honolulu office had received a letter from a self-proclaimed former member of al-Qaida about the possible attack. Navy commanders then were notified of the threat.

The U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service "assesses that the veracity of such write-in threats are usually highly questionable; however, the credibility of this particular threat cannot be fully determined without additional investigation," according to a communication obtained by KITV4News in Hawaii. "We take all information, all tips, seriously, and that's why we are here," said Luis Diaz, spokesman for the Coast Guard in Miami. The Coast Guard has boarded about 10,000 vessels as part of inspections since the Sept. 11 attacks.

A preliminary search of the Maren Maersk was done offshore when it was first boarded. Federal and local law enforcement agencies then converged on Port Everglades as the ship was brought into a bay in Southport, away from the cruise terminals and petroleum tanks.

The port has been a key concern to state officials since last year's terrorist attacks. It is in the center of a crowded metropolitan area and home to one of the nation's largest petroleum tank farms.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002