Authorities investigated a “potential threat” in a container on a ship at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina early Thursday, the Coast Guard said
The ship, Maersk Memphis, is at the Wando terminal, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The terminal is used for container cargo, and has been evacuated to allow federal, state and local bomb detection units to investigate.
The threat came in about 8 p.m. ET, according to the Coast Guard. It later tweeted that a “safety zone has been established around the vessel while law enforcement authorities investigate the threat.”
Coast Guard Lt. JB Zorn said the threat was based on an anonymous claim shared by a man on YouTube. He said the search is isolated to a certain section of the containers, and is expected to go into Thursday morning.
The Maersk Memphis docked on the Wando River after leaving New York three days ago, according to the MarineTraffic website.