Good News: US shipping terminal reopens after 'dirty bomb' threat

US shipping terminal reopens after 'dirty bomb' threat

A terminal at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina will reopen and the safety zone has

Maersk image of containership

been lifted, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, after investigating a threat of a "dirty bomb" on a container ship.

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 Wednesday, 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.

Testing response or just a whack job being an idiot?

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 September - 19 October 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 September - 19 October... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence: Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 30 August - 28 September 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 30 August - 28 September... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 August - 7 September 2016

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 August - 7 September 201... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 17 May - 15 June 2016 and a New Maritime Security Approach in Southeast Asia

Office of Naval Intelligence Threats to Shipping:

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 17 May - 15 June 2016

Not mentioned in the report (due to its timing), Three southeast Asian nations to designate shipping corridor to battle piracy:

Celebes and Sulu Seas indicated by ovals

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia signed the agreement to designate a transit corridor for commercial vessels in order to prevent hijacks by pirates.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines on Monday agreed to designate a transit corridor for commercial vessels crossing a maritime zone hit by a spate of hijackings by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines.

Nearly 20 Indonesian and Malaysian tugboat crew have been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf militants this year, with Jakarta airing fears that the problem could reach levels seen off the coast of Somalia.
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Analysts say $40-billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu and Celebes seas each year, including supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.

The three countries also agreed to step up air and sea patrols and escorts for commercial ships in the common maritime areas to fend off potential hijacks, kidnaps and robbery.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the leaders agreed to share the best practices evolved by Indonesia and Malaysia during a joint effort to patrol the busy Malacca Strait waterway against pirates, as a model for three-way cooperation with the Philippines.

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Analysts say $40-billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu and Celebes seas each year, including supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.

The three countries also agreed to step up air and sea patrols and escorts for commercial ships in the common maritime areas to fend off potential hijacks, kidnaps and robbery.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the leaders agreed to share the best practices evolved by Indonesia and Malaysia during a joint effort to patrol the busy Malacca Strait waterway against pirates, as a model for three-way cooperation with the Philippines.

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There was no immediate comment from the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Piracy near Somalia’s coast has subsided after shipping firms hired private security details and international warships patrolled the waters.

It's a Reuters report. Love the "no immediate comment from the . . . rebels" bit.

U.S.Office of Naval Intelligence - Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 2 February - 2 March 2016

ONI's Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report
2 February - 2 March 2016:

U.S.Office of Naval Intelligence World Wide Threats to Shipping to 3 Mar 16

Date difference? I use date of publication.

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence - Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 7 September - 7 October 2015

U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence - Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 7 September - 7 October 2015

ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 7 September - 7 October 2015

China: A Video on Its "Defensive Layers"

Sam LaGrone put up this video on the USNI News site but it is from the Office of Naval Intelligence:


The rest of Sam's post is well worth reading, as it deals with Global Guided Missile Expansion Forcing U.S. Navy to Rethink Surface Fleet Size:

Rapid growth in the capability and quality of guided missiles — mostly Chinese in origin — is causing the U.S. Navy to rethink the number of surface ships it needs to effectively fight a high-end war.

Early estimates based ongoing war games could mean the current number of 88 large surface combatants — the Navy’s fleet of guided missile destroyers and cruisers — needs to grow to more than a hundred into the 2020s just to keep to today’s current level of risk, USNI News has learned.

Then it goes into budgets and alternatives.

Good read.