Suspicious cargo on cruise ship closes harbor

By Mike Gordon
and Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writers

The U.S. Coast Guard closed Honolulu Harbor for nearly three hours yesterday after two explosive-sniffing dogs alerted handlers to suspicious cargo that was about to be loaded onto a cruise ship at Pier 2. But the cargo turned out to be papers and fluorescent bulbs used in slot machines, the cruise ship spokeswoman said.

It was the first time since Sept. 11 that officials closed the harbor for security reasons, shutting down all incoming and outgoing ocean traffic. The Coast Guard closed the harbor at 8:20 a.m. and reopened it 11:30 a.m.

"Since Sept. 11, we have to take every call and treat it like the real thing," said Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley. "We took security measures to the maximum to protect anyone who might be around just in case there was something there. ... In this case, it turned out to be absolutely nothing."

Royal Guard Security, a security company hired by the state to patrol the harbor, had trained dogs to check cargo on about 30 pallets before they could be loaded onto the cruise ship Crystal Harmony, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. DesaRae Atnip and Rags Scanlan, president and chief executive officer of Royal Guard Security. The suspicious pallet contained loosely packaged boxes from a shipment originating in Las Vegas.

Crystal Harmony, a 940-passenger liner owned by NYK Line of Japan, had arrived early yesterday morning from Kahului, Maui, and was scheduled to depart for Kaua'i at about 9 p.m. last night.

Mimi Weisband, a spokeswoman for Crystal Cruises in Los Angeles, operators of the ship, said the boxes contained supplies to be used in the ship's casino.

Mosley said he believed there might have been some sort of gunpowder residue on the boxes or pallet that alerted two dogs.

Alan Murakami, state harbor operations supervisor, said the closure forced a Matson container ship and two Young Brothers barges to wait outside Honolulu Harbor until the all-clear was given.