The Coast Guard has confirmed that around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, they evacuated the Wando Welch Terminal in the South Carolina Port of Charleston, after a phone call from an anonymous caller, along with a YouTube video, had reported a bomb threat.

Coast Guard Lt. J.B. Zorn said the threat involved a container on the Maersk Memphis Container Ship. Zorn said on Thursday that the Memphis had docked at the Wando port terminal at around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. He added that local, state and federal authorities are investigating the threat. A portion of the Wando River was also closed to boat traffic during the evacuation.

YouTube ‘conspiracy theorist’ spoke of ‘dirty bomb’ on the Memphis

The commander of the Charleston Coast Guard, Capt. Greg Stump said a YouTube “conspiracy theorist” named George Webb had made a claim in two videos posted Wednesday about a “dirty bomb” on board the Memphis. The videos had urged viewers to phone in about the threat in the port. The container ship had reportedly loaded in Pakistan while on a recent visit to the Middle East. Stump said that out of an “abundance of caution,” they investigated the threat on the ship, evacuating the terminal for safety.

Container ship had been in the Middle East

As reported by ABC 4, authorities did establish from online records via Maersk Lines that the Memphis did, indeed, return to the U.S.

recently from the Middle East. The container ship had, between April 14 and June 12, docked in the UAE, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Oman, and Spain. However, as stated by Zorn, there was reportedly no credible data to suggest the presence of a “dirty bomb” on board the Memphis.

Zorn said Coast Guard personnel in major ports, including Charleston, are equipped with radiation detection devices.

However, he did say there are no results available as yet from the radiation sweep of the Memphis by Coast Guard personnel. He added there have, to his knowledge, been no injuries relating to the bomb threat on the container ship.

A “dirty bomb” is an explosive device, defined as being loaded with radioactive polluted materials and is not a true nuclear weapon.

No existing threat found and terminal reopened after bomb scare

According to CNN Thursday morning, the Coast Guard has since tweeted that they had found no existing threat in the port and that the terminal will reopen. Their statement added that four containers were considered to be a threat, but have since been scanned and cleared. The statement continued by saying the “original reporting source” relating to the “dirty bomb” threat has been detained for questioning.
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