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Cargo containers crammed with foreign-made goods that were supposed to set a record in August at major U.S. ports took an unexpected turn, with imports sinking 1.4% in another sign of the slowing of the economy. Imports of items as diverse as toys and tiles could also be lower in September and October, when retailers will be stocking shelves for the holidays, because shell-shocked shoppers are expected to continue to pull back. Entry point click to enlarge Graphic Is trade boom over? click to enlargeThe falloff "reflects the consumer-demand-driven weakness in the U.S. economy," said Paul Bingham, an economist with...

Baggage handler locked in hold on US-bound flight Ronan McGreevy A baggage handler at Dublin airport was locked into the cargo hold of a transatlantic aircraft as it taxied down the runway. The 55-year-old man, who had worked with Aer Lingus for 16 years and had been promoted to shift leader, got stuck in the hold when he went to retrieve a bag that should have been on a flight to Los Angeles rather than New York. A report into the incident, in late 2005, said it was "fortunate" that the man had a mobile phone, which he used to...

Vanuatu cargo cult marks 50 years By Phil Mercer BBC News, Tanna One of the world's last surviving cargo cults is celebrating its official 50th anniversary on Tanna island in Vanuatu. The John Frum Movement worships a mysterious spirit that urged them to reject the teachings of the Church and maintain their traditional customs. The cult was reinforced during WWII, when US forces landed with huge amounts of cargo - weapons, food and medicine. Villagers believe the spirit of John Frum sent the US military to their South Pacific home to help them. Devotees say that an apparition of John...

Excerpt - Japan and the United States will discuss ways to cooperate on inspecting vessels that enter or leave North Korea as part of the international effort to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test. Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, met in Tokyo on Monday and confirmed that the two countries will collaborate on cargo inspections and other measures against North Korea. ~ snip ~

Cargo theft accounts for approximately $50 billion in direct merchandise losses each year worldwide — $15 billion of that in the United States alone. (SNIP) The Hialeah gang (Miami) is believed to be the single most important theft grouping active in cargo crime across the United States. (SNIP) ..grouped by geography: • Miami/South Florida: Widely considered the most prolific in highvalue cargo theft, the gangs in this region can be divided into two groups: those that operate strictly within Florida and Georgia and those that operate beyond the regional boundaries. Those that roam outside the region generally target high-dollar freight,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- The same global positioning technology that helps fighter and bomber pilots deliver smart bombs with pinpoint accuracy now allows bundles dropped from cargo planes to steer themselves to drop zones. A new GPS-guided “Screamer” bundle from the Joint Precision Air Drop System falls out the back of a C-130 Hercules over Afghanistan Aug. 26. The drop was made from 17,500 feet above mean sea level and was the first joint Air Force-Army operational drop of JPADS in the Central Command area of responsibility. Four bundles were dropped from the Alaska Air National Guard C-130....

Using Flight Aware to track a 747 (my favorite jet) cargo flight out of Chas. SC. Destination is England, but south of Rhode Island it looks like it made a big loop over the ocean, and according to its last position, it appear to be headed to an old abandoned Military Airfield (Floyd Bennet) on Long Island. Another aviation enthusiasts have an ideas why it would do this?

A four-man salvage team was able to access and survey the Cougar Ace yesterday, determining that at least some cargo remains in place and that the vessel remains stable. However, while conducting the survey, one of the team members fell and died from injuries sustained in the fall. ....... snip ...... The team determined that the cargo on the number one deck, the highest deck, remains in place. Cargo on the ninth deck has also remained in place. The engine room is intact and there is no sign of water. There are a total of fourteen car cargo decks on...

Vancouver, British Columbia - The fate of thousands of Mazda cars was uncertain this week after the ship carrying them to North America rolled on its side in the Pacific Ocean. The Cougar Ace rolled sideways when the massive ship's ballast tank was adjusted. The automaker had 4700 vehicles aboard the automobile carrier Cougar Ace that began taking on water on Sunday and listed so heavily that the 23 crew had to be rescued by the US Coast Guard. The 199.3m Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ship was still afloat on Wednesday with its keel and propeller out of the water and...

A newspaper claims to have planted a fake bomb on a train carrying nuclear waste. The Daily Mirror said one of its reporters wandered up to the unattended wagons at a north west London depot. It said a terrorist could have blown up the waste, sparking a vast toxic cloud that would have killed hundreds. The train carries radioactive flasks of spent uranium fuel rods from the Kent countryside to Cumbria. The reporter was able to place a device that could have been a bomb on the 12-ton cargo as the train sat in sidings at a depot. He approached...

Washington (DC) - Laptops get hot, but can they cause a plane to catch on fire? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating whether laptop batteries caused a UPS cargo plane to catch on fire last February. The DC-8 plane with three crew members made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport after a fire broke out in the cargo hold. The fire continued to burn for four hours destroying the plane and most of the UPS packages inside. Luckily, the crew on board UPS flight 1307 escaped with only minor injuries. In the accident investigation, NTSB officials...

The nation's defense against nuclear terrorism took a major step Friday, federal officials said, following the award of contracts worth $1.2 billion to install advanced sensors at U.S. ports of entry to screen for radioactive cargo. The Department of Homeland Security plans to install 1,400 advanced detection systems at 370 border crossings and ports under the program, which has been in development at federal laboratories for several years. The sensors, which cost $350,000 to $600,000 each, will allow inspectors to scan rail cars, trucks and shipping containers with greater accuracy and fewer false alarms, said Vayl S. Oxford, director of...

Two helicopters from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base were called Saturday to rescue an American who suffered what appeared to be a stroke about 500 miles off the California coast. The helicopters, from the 943rd Rescue Group, were chosen because the Navy and Coast Guard cannot refuel in the air, said Capt. Eric Simon, of the 943rd. While there is a rescue group stationed at Moffett Federal Airfield in the San Francisco area, Capt. Simon said the holiday made it difficult to activate that group. The man was aboard the cargo ship Horizon Pacific when he began suffering stroke symptoms, according...

WASHINGTON (ARMY NEWS SERVICE, March 23, 2006) – Army and Air Force officials announced March 17 that a new Joint Cargo Aircraft, designed to enhance the combat readiness of both services, will be developed by a combined team. Fielding of the new aircraft is expected within two years. The Request for Proposals was released March 17 after the Acquisition Strategy Report was signed that morning, according to Pentagon officials. A Joint Program Office, comprised of personnel from both branches of service, will open Oct. 1 in Huntsville, Ala., with the Army taking the lead. “This is a big day for...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 20, 2006 – A single U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport jet set a record by airdropping 32,400 pounds of humanitarian aid within 40 minutes to four locations in central and eastern Afghanistan March 16. Airdrop missions involve delivering cargo without landing the airplane. This airdrop marked the most cargo dropped to this many drop zones in the shortest amount of time from a single aircraft in the history of U.S. airdrop operations, said Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Ciuzio, chief of the Air Mobility Division at the Combined Air Operations Center. It is the policy...

Nuclear reactors are among the most significant U.S. exports shipped out of five of the six ports slated for takeover by a Dubai company next week. According to U.S. Transportation Department numbers cited Thursday by Newsday, the two "top products" shipped in and out of the Ports of New York and New Jersey are "mineral fuel [and] nuclear reactors." The New York-New Jersey ports handle 4,862 ships each year. The Port of Baltimore processes 1,747 ships each year, where the top two products, according to Newsday, are "vehicles [and] nuclear reactors." The Port of Miami unloads 1,247 ships annually. There...

ABOARD USS NASSAU, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Nassau (LHA 4) and embarked units provided assistance to a distressed vessel off the coast of Kenya Jan. 31 while conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the area. Motor vessel Al Manara reported a need for provisions, engineering assistance and medical attention. The crew aboard Nassau responded as part of their MSO mission to provide supplies, medicine and assistance to the vessel’s crew. “We received a report from Coalition Task Force (CTF) 150 stating that the motor vessel Al Manara had suffered an engineering casualty approximately 680 miles off the coast of...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Fifteen airport cargo handlers have pleaded guilty to charges of stealing items being mailed to military personnel stationed in Okinawa, Japan, authorities said Tuesday. Nearly 600 incidents of theft were reported since November 2003 with an estimated $200,000 in losses. U.S. Postal Inspectors and military criminal investigators noted suspicious behavior among cargo handlers employed by Aeroground at San Francisco International Airport. Workers concealed merchandise under their clothing and took it to their vehicles in an adjoining parking lot, according to court documents. Stolen items included laptop computers, DVD players, jewelry, Victoria's Secret merchandise and digital cameras....

NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 3, 2005 — Twenty-four Navy reservists from the Springfield, Mo., Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center returned from the Middle East Sept. 28 after fulfilling a combat service support mission in Iraq and Kuwait. The sailors were mobilized by the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force in Williamsburg, Va., in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as members of the Mobile Air Cargo Handling team, which augmented Marines at key hubs to facilitate intra-theater distribution of aviation material. "Your hard work and diligence ensured accurate delivery of aviation parts with on-time service, allowing maintainers to continue the...

(West Hartford-WTNH, July 15, 2005 6:30 PM) _ Three people face multiple charges after someone tried to steal a FedEx delivery truck. The FedEx driver went to make a delivery behind a home on Forest Drive and when he came back the suspect was in his truck, trying to drive off, police said. The FedEx driver jumped in and during a struggle the truck veered back and forth on the quiet street. The truck finally stopped after it jumped a curb and came to rest on a neighbor's lawn. The suspect jumped out and took off. Several people saw the...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Thirteen cargo handlers at San Francisco International Airport were charged Friday with stealing $200,000 worth of computers, cameras and other goods from mail bound for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan, authorities said Friday. The 13 defendants, employees of cargo staffing company Aeroground, were arrested Thursday and early Friday and arraigned on charges of stealing and conspiring to steal U.S. mail, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco. "We will not tolerate abuse of our mail system, and we will make every effort to ensure that postal customers and our postal system are protected and...

SINGAPORE, March 10 (Kyodo) - The United States agreed Thursday to help Singapore install special equipment at its seaports to detect hidden shipments of nuclear and other radioactive materials. The agreement inked by representatives of the two governments in Singapore paves the way for U.S. provision of the specialized radiation detection technology to the city-state and training of local law enforcement personnel to operate it. ''Singapore will be the first country in Southeast Asia to use this type of detection system in cooperation with the United States,'' according to a joint statement issued by the two sides. The United States...

KHARTOUM, Feb 3 (AFP) - A Sudanese cargo plane crashed in a desert area outside the capital Khartoum on Thursday, killing all seven crew on board, most of them Russians, the official SUNA news agency said. The plane was flying in from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when it plunged to the ground shortly before it was due to land in Khartoum. Six Russian crew members and their Sudanese interpreter were killed, SUNA said. Civil aviation ministry chief Othman al-Badri Abdallah said the plane had run out of fuel according to initial reports from the control tower, the agency...

ATLANTA, Jan 10, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- United Parcel Service Inc. has ordered 10 of Airbus' new A380 super-jumbo jets as the shipping giant moves to expand the capacity of its air network to accommodate strong international growth.

WASHINGTON - The Air Force is making more cargo flights over Iraq (news - web sites) to keep Army transport trucks off the country's dangerous roads, accepting the increased risk to planes and added cost to reduce the threat on the ground, officials said Tuesday. During the last month, the Air Force reorganized the operations of its cargo lifters and is now flying about 450 tons of cargo around Iraq daily, said Lt. Col. Mike Caldwell, an Air Force spokesman. That's an increase of about 100 tons a day over its previous average, he said. Most of the missions are...

"WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government unveiled a plan Wednesday to tighten air cargo security by checking the backgrounds of workers who handle freight and restricting access to sections of airports used for loading and unloading cargo. The long-awaited plan from the Transportation Security Administration also requires cargo airlines to screen people who board their planes. Freight forwarders - agents who accept packages and arrange shipment - must make sure cargo doesn't include bombs, guns or stowaways. However, the plan contains few details about how the TSA expects the freight industry to accomplish those goals. "These proposals would fill gaps...

On 22nd November 2003, a DHL A300 B4 had been airborne from Baghdad Airport for just over 3 minutes when the calm in the cockpit was shattered by the sound of a loud bang. At about 8,000ft an explosion was heard, followed by a cacophony of aural warnings and visual displays showing a master warning on all flight controls. Unbeknown to the crew at that time, the aircraft had been struck by a missile.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - President Bush on Monday told the Pentagon to make two U.S. transport planes available to aid African peacekeeping forces seeking to end a humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. A White House statement issued as Bush campaigned in Florida, said the president had directed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to make the planes available to the African Union, or AU, for two weeks, starting at the end of October. The military planes will help transport fresh troops that part of a 4,500-soldier contingent to be deployed to Darfur by the African Union by...

A Boeing 747-200 aircraft with seven crew members aboard crashed Thursday at Halifax International Airport. All seven aboard the jet, which is owned by MK Airlines Ltd. of Britain and Ghana, were killed, say Canadian authorities. The aircraft was loaded with fish, lobsters and lawn tractors, they say. Parts of the 747 are made at Boeing Wichita. Boeing Seattle spokeswoman Liz Verdier says a three-person team has been dispatched to the scene. Boeing usually dispatches an investigation team to the site of crashes involving its jets, especially one involving its largest product, the 747 model. Verdier says it has been...

Miami (dpa) - A 20-year-old Cuban woman arrived Wednesday in Miami in a box transported by delivery service DHL and immediately asked for political asylum. The woman was being interrogated by customs and immigrations officials, a spokesperson said. Employees at DHL were surprised when the young woman emerged from the box, sent from Cuba via Nassau in the Bahamas. ``Suddenly the box opened and the young woman ran out,'' an employee said. The box was perforated with holes to allow her to breathe. Under U.S. laws Cuban refugees who make it to land are allowed to stay in the United...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- During the latest season of excavations of the northern gate of Takht-e Suleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple located in northwestern Iran, the stamps of two seals were discovered which indicate that objects entered Takht-e Suleiman from other regions with special tags attached to them which seem to be advertisements. They signify that an early form of advertising was being practiced during the Sassanid era (224-642 C.E.), Yusef Moradi, the head of the excavation team, said on Friday. “The team began its excavations in early August and found the stamps of two seals at the upper levels...

Secrets of an ancient Persian armada sunk off the coast of Greece 2500 years ago are being dredged up by modern archaeologists. A team from Greece, Canada and the United States has just completed a second expedition to retrieve artefacts from 300 ships of the Persian King Darius that were wrecked in a storm off the Mt Athos Peninsula, northern Greece, in 492BC or 493BC. Aucklanders will be among the first to hear the results today when three of the expedition leaders present their findings in a free public lecture at Auckland University. In two trips so far, last October...

Culture clash in the South Seas By Nick Squires BBC correspondent in Sydney The mysterious John Frum movement has existed peacefully on an island in the South Pacific for decades; but a violent feud has now broken out between its followers and a new Christian movement. Sitting beneath a tattered Stars and Stripes flag hanging limply from a bamboo pole, Jack Yahlu recalls the bloody jungle battle which shattered the peace of this little known corner of the South Pacific. "They wanted to kill us and we wanted to kill them," 27-year-old Yahlu told me. "We used slingshots, axes,...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under its new chairman, Richard Lugar, should make its first order of business an inquiry into President Bush's maladroit and shortsighted decision-making in the So San affair. Our National Security Agency, to its credit, spotted the movement of 15 Scud missiles and 85 drums of chemicals from a factory in North Korea to its secret loading aboard the freighter So San, and tracked the unflagged ship around the world to the Arabian Sea. The C.I.A. was unable to determine the customer of these offensive weapons, unreliable in military combat but useful in striking terror into...

Workers use heavy cable and floating barges to begin the righting of the Stellamare on Monday. It was almost imperceptible at first. Slowly and almost silently, the Stellamare started to move on Monday.It was 4 p.m. when two massive waterborne cranes began righting the Dutch-owned cargo ship that had lain on its side at the Port of Albany since capsizing Dec. 9 while a General Electric Co. generator was being loaded. By 4:07 p.m., the moving was done for the day and the 289-foot vessel was more than halfway upright, even farther than had been planned for the first...

CNBC reported that a Fed Ex plane crashed in Memphis, Tennessee... then returned a few minutes later reporting that there was no crash, but an engine on fire.

Three crew members remained missing this morning after a Dutch cargo ship listed and partially sank at the Port of Albany at about 3 p.m. Tuesday. The accident involving the Stellamare tossed several men into the icy waters of the Hudson River and prompted the Coast Guard to close the river, left the ship tilted at a 50-degree angle, and may have killed three seamen. It marks the city's worst maritime accident in decades.The ship's 18-man crew was loading the second of two General Electric generators, each weighing roughly 250 tons, when the boat listed to port, rolled and...

A Dutch cargo ship tipped over at a 45-degree angle in the frigid Hudson River while being loaded with steel turbines Tuesday, apparently trapping three crew members. Fifteen others were rescued, with some suffering hypothermia. The missing were believed to be inside the hull of the listing ship, Detective James Miller said. Divers were brought in. But officials said they did not immediately know if the vessel had filled with water.The ship had loaded 661 tons of steel turbines bound for Italy and Romania when the cargo apparently shifted, causing the ship to turn partly on its side, Mayor...

HEADLINE: Stowaway: 'This was my own plan'; Crate rider's statement to FBI contradicts his story to police, media SOURCE: Dallas Morning News BYLINE: DAVE LEVINTHAL BODY: The man who shipped himself from New York City to Dallas inside an air cargo crate repeatedly lied to police and media outlets about his bizarre journey during which he eluded security at five airports, according to documents obtained Friday. Charles D. McKinley originally told DeSoto police and media that he first flew Sept. 5 to Kentucky aboard a passenger airline and was duped by an accomplice into sealing himself in a crate. He...

HEADLINE: From MTV to Leno, media vying for time with stowaway; After a week of interviews, crate rider has no comment SOURCE: Dallas Morning News BYLINE: Dave Levinthal BODY: A bevy of television programs wants to make a celebrity out of the man who flew special delivery from New York to Dallas in an air cargo crate. Sharon Osbourne, rocker Ozzy Osbourne's wife, called the Dallas County Sheriff's Department seeking an interview with Charles D. McKinley, 25, for her new television show, officials said. An MTV producer inquired about filming a reality television program at the Dallas County jail featuring...

<p>DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- A homesick shipping clerk had himself shipped from New York to Dallas in an airline cargo crate, startling his parents -- and a deliveryman -- when he broke out of the box outside their home.</p> <p>Charles D. McKinley, 25, was arrested and jailed on unrelated bad-check and traffic charges after his overnight odyssey. Federal officials are considering additional charges of stowing away on a plane.</p>

Federal agents say they are investigating how a man succeeded in stowing away in a cargo plane on a flight from New York to Dallas by shipping himself in a wooden crate. After hours of traveling, Charles McKinley, 25, of New York City, pried open the crate with a crowbar Saturday morning, authorities said. He popped up outside his parents' doorstep in suburban DeSoto, shook the hand of a shocked deliveryman and walked away, The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday. The deliveryman called DeSoto police, who arrested him on outstanding Texas warrants. McKinley has not been charged with a crime,...

DALLAS (AP) - Charles McKinley found a unique way to save a few bucks getting to his parents' house: He crawled into a wooden airplane cargo crate and succeeded in shipping himself from New York to Texas. After hours of traveling, McKinley, 25, of New York City, pried open the crate with a crowbar Saturday morning. He popped up outside his parents' doorstep in the south Dallas suburb of DeSoto, shook the hand of a shocked deliveryman and walked away. The deliveryman called DeSoto police, who arrested him on outstanding Texas warrants. The FBI and the Transportation Security Administration are...

        Weekly Piracy Report15 - 21 April 2003The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 15 - 21 April 2003. Warning : Gaspar straits, Indonesia.Five incidents have been reported in the vicinity of Lat 03S: Long 107E (Gaspar Straits) during last week. Ships are advised to take extra precautions in this area. Recently reported incidents 20.04.2003 at 0340 LT in position: 03:12S - 116:20E, anchored off north Pulau Laut coal terminal, Indonesia.Three pirates...

I remember a story that popped up (at least in the UK media) just before the hostilities began, to the effect that three Iraqi cargo ships were meandering about the high seas, ignoring all attempts to establish radio contact. Here is one of the threads posted to FR on the topic. Sooooo.... whatever became of those ships?

Alarm over cargo ships tracked by intelligence By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell 20 February 2003 Ministers will face questions in Parliament next week over fears that Saddam Hussein could be evading United Nations inspections by hiding chemical and biological weapons on the high seas. Security experts and senior MPs expressed alarm last night at the prospect that three giant cargo ships are being tracked by Western intelligence agencies because they could be carrying deadly Iraqi weapons. In response to a report in The Independent yesterday, the Government will also be questioned over Britain's defence against illegal maritime trafficking in...

<p>Local waterways officials are outraged over a proposal advanced by the Bush administration calling for waterways users to pay up to half the cost of operating and maintaining the nation's locks, dams and channels.</p> <p>Yesterday, local and national waterways officials and operators decried the proposal as "shortsighted," and said it violates an agreement forged by the government and waterways users in 1986. That agreement affirmed federal responsibility for inland waterways operation and maintenance in exchange for inland waterways users assuming the obligation for financing 50 percent of future construction and major rehabilitation spending.</p>

Russia sends cargo ship to space station Russia has launched an unmanned cargo ship to the international space station, a day after the loss of Columbia threw future missions to the orbiting complex in doubt. The Progress M-47 lifted off atop a Soyuz-U rocket from the Russian-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, an official at Russian mission control outside Moscow said. The craft is scheduled to dock with the station on Tuesday, delivering fuel, equipment and food and mail for the crew. The long-planned launch came as Russian space officials offered condolences to their American colleagues and said the disaster may...

January 28, 2003 Shipwreck in the Gulf Clings Tenaciously to its MysteriesBy KENNETH CHANG BOARD THE RYLAN T, off Louisiana — Those who believe in ghosts might conclude that those aboard a shipwreck at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico do not want to be disturbed. For nearly two centuries, the ship has lain under a half-mile of water, forgotten until ExxonMobil, by infinitesimal chance, bisected it with an oil pipeline two years ago. Marine archaeologists at Texas A&M University saw it as an opportunity to use undersea technology to uncover maritime history. With robotic submarines able to...