By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 26 -- The US Coast Guard said Tuesday it had removed two Iraqi crewmembers from an Egyptian-owned oil tanker on the US east coast after boarding and taking control of the vessel. The tanker was flying a Qatari flag.
USCG Atlantic Area Command spokesman Bill Barry told Reuters the 153,000 dwt Aldawha crude oil tanker currently was being allowed to discharge its cargo at El Paso Corp.'s Eagle Point, NJ, refinery.
"(The tanker) is offloading product and we still have positive control of the vessel," Barry said.
However he declined to reveal when the vessel was boarded or why. "I cannot discuss that right now because it is an ongoing operation," Reuters quoted Barry as saying.
Barry also declined to identify the security agencies involved in the operation.
Barry could not say where the Iraqi nationals were or elaborate on other crewmembers still aboard the vessel, but did say that the Iraqi nationals had been "replaced with two equally qualified crew members provided by the shipping company" before the ship entered the port on Monday.
"Neither the ship nor the crew pose any known threat," he said, "but these actions were deemed appropriate and necessary given the current military operation and the heightened threat level: Orange," he told Reuters.
As a security measure following attacks on the US on Sept. 11, 2001, USCG routinely has been boarding international vessels bound for US ports at a distance further out than before that date and examining crew and cargo before allowing vessels to enter US ports.