A Liberian-registered container ship has been barred from docking at Newark, New Jersey, while the authorities investigated the contents of its cargo.
US Coast Guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Brendan McPherson said the 708-foot (215-meter) Palermo Senator had been boarded and turned away early yesterday but would not confirm reports on CNN that traces of radioactivity had been found.
McPherson said the ship was boarded by Coast Guard and other officers in a routine inspection of the vessel like of thousands of others conducted since the September 11 terrorist attacks last year.
"There were concerns after boarding about the cargo, so the Coast Guard captain made the determination that the ship should go back out to anchorage offshore until they could verify the cargo," he said.
The ship left from Valencia, Spain, carrying 655 containers, McPherson said. But he could give no other details of the contents or the suspicions that led to the vessel being turned away.
Officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was also reportedly involved in the operation, were unavailable for comment.
AFP