Cargo ship containers searched for stowaways

The ship was diverted to the Aleutian port Sunday because the containers are so tightly packed

Crew heard pounding sound; vessel diverted to Alaska

From staff and wire reports

UNALASKA, Alaska -- No stowaways were found in a cargo ship container searched by authorities after crew members said they heard pounding noises and the vessel was diverted to an Alaskan port. Other containers stacked near the suspect one also would be checked, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

No people or signs of human occupancy were found in the first container searched after it was removed from the 860-foot Manoa and taken into a maintenance warehouse in the Aleutian Island port of Unalaska.

The ship, en route from Asia, arrived Wednesday night. Medics, Coast Guard personnel with infrared video equipment and agents with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service were waiting.

The container ship originally was headed for Oakland, California. It changed course to make an emergency stop in Unalaska after the pounding was heard.

The sound was traced to a non-refrigerated container, second from the bottom in a stack of seven on the tightly packed ship. The 40-foot orange container couldn't be opened on board because the space between the containers was too narrow.

"The captain feels certain there are people inside," said Robert Eddy, Alaska district director for the INS.

The crew heard the pounding after a power outage silenced the refrigerators that cool some of the containers, Eddy told the Anchorage Daily News.

"The crewman, in response, tapped on the outside, and there was a responding tap from the inside," Eddy said.

The crew then punched an air hole into the container and dropped in food and water, but heard nothing more, said Gene Mackarin, manager of the local terminal for APL, formerly American President Lines. Fresh air was being pumped into the container.

The Coast Guard dispatched an infrared video camera capable of detecting small variations in heat inside metal containers.

"The personnel aboard the Manoa have done everything they can to improve the living conditions of anyone that may be in that container. They are forcing air into the space, and have made attempts to provide food and water to whoever may be inside the 40-foot container," said Rear Admiral Tom Barrett, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District.

The ship picked up cargo at a number of Asian ports ending with Yokohama, Japan.

APL is leasing the Manoa from Matson Navigation Co., Mackarin said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States Coast Guard
Anchorage Daily News - Coast Guard begins search for ship stowaways at Dutch
Matson Navigation Company

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