Major U.S. Port Temporarily Shut Down After 'Dirty Bomb' Tip From Conspiracy Theorist

The Port of Charleston shut down late Wednesday night after the Coast Guard received two calls about a dirty bomb allegedly hidden aboard a Maersk container ship. A section of the port closed for seven hours as the ship's crew evacuated and authorities searched several containers, ultimately finding no evidence of a bomb.

Adding to what was already a bizarre story, George Webb, an online conspiracy theorist with 40,000 subscribers to his Youtube channel, was behind the tip. Webb, who shared an account of his call with the Coast Guard in a video posted on a separate channel, claimed he had anonymous sources in the Midwest who tipped him off to the dirty bomb, a homemade explosive device designed to spread radioactive material upon detonation.

"These are American patriots who spent decades, even before [Department of Homeland Security] was formed, in service to our country, saving our country from terrorist attack," Webb said in the video. "This one person who was brave enough to come forward was a representative of five other people who are afraid of reprisals. And those individuals are the ones who said the Maersk Memphis is the boat."

If you want to really dive down the rabbit hole, read the comments on the video. Here's one thread:

Yikes.

By Thursday morning, the Port of Charleston had reopened, with South Carolina Ports Authority spokeswoman Erin P. Dhand declaring it "operating as usual with minimal impacts to our operations from last night’s incident," according to The New York Times. The Port of Charleston is the eighth busiest in the U.S. by volume, and fourth busiest on the East Coast, though near-finished upgrades could see it compete for the title of second busiest (after New York) within a decade.

U.S. ports are considered attractive potential targets for terrorism, so much so that Congress passed the SAFE Port Act in 2006 in an effort to shore up security. Still, while the dirty bomb has been no more than a bogeyman and U.S. ports have avoided attack, questions remain over port safety.

Cybersecurity may be the biggest concern. Most ship and port functions—navigation, logistics, communications—are automated or heavily reliant on electronic systems, leaving critical infrastructure potentially vulnerable to cyber attack. Here's how Rand Corporation, a policy and analysis firm, described the situation:

These same technologies that drive efficiency in maritime transportation also increase the system's vulnerability. Each of these systems could be exploited to disrupt port operations or damage port infrastructure. Data systems could be compromised so that the integrity of manifests cannot be trusted. Navigation systems could be attacked increasing risks of vessel collisions. Control systems could be hacked to damage critical infrastructure. Yet the risk from these vulnerabilities is not well understood.

So far, there hasn't been an issue (that we know of), but it's scary to consider the implications of a major port disruption. In 2013, U.S. ports processed 309 million tons of imported goods valued at $133 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. And shipping accounts for 90 percent of all international trade. For the promotional products industry, which sources most of its goods overseas, any kind of sustained port outage could have devastating consequences.

Thankfully, Wednesday's bomb threat was a false alarm. But there may be real repercussions for the tipsters:

#update the original reporting source of the threat in port of Charleston has been detained by authorities for further questioning.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 15, 2017

#update to Charleston Port threat. individual was detained in Zanesville, OH on charges not related to Port incident, FBI to question today.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 15, 2017