Yeah, radiation that isn't there, and now in Florida, explosives detected that aren't there. It is kind of funny.

[1] The Feds are lying?

Maybe. That would be a kneejerk reaction for some people. But why? It's worth noting that this whole incident indicates that there is an ongoing program of inspecting ships for radiation. Interesting.

[2] The USCG in the NJ waters had a faulty radiation-detector?

If so, it would give a false positive if you pointed it at anything. Should be easy to catch out.

[3] After the initial radiation detection, any radioactive contraband onboard was tossed into deep water overboard [at night?] by the crew?

I'd like to think they would have been too closely watched to get away with this, but possible.

[4] Cosmic rays?

Anyone skilled at radiation detection would allow for this background radiation.

[5] Or the ship really did have radioactive contraband onboard for sufficient time to induce temporary radioactivity in the slate-tiles cargo, prior to the ship reaching American waters...And before the USCG could approach to within visual or radar-range of the ship [within 200 miles of the NJ coast] a Zodiac was used to take the radioactive contraband off the ship.

Only neutrons can induce extensive radioactivity in other substances. Anyone carrying something emitting this many unshielded neutrons would have been dead before they got to New Jersey.

DEBKAFile had an interesting article on this, assign it whatever credibility you want to:

One piece of evidence is revealed in the article on this page about the “Palermo Senator” container vessel, detained and searched at sea for four days after radiation traces were detected in its hold on September 9. The fact that the search came up empty does not obviate the danger. It is as acute as ever. It ties in with the solid intelligence the FBI is holding that 40 al Qaeda men are heading for the United States by ship. No one knows what ship, what arms they bear – conventional, chemical, biological or nuclear – or where they are programmed to strike.

US federal agencies have been haunted by the seemingly phantom group ever since they were tipped-off last May that Osama bin Laden’s men was aiming for Santa Catalina, an island 35 km south of Los Angeles. The group may have already stolen into the country or changed direction for another port - London, Haifa or Ashdod. The FBI is giving out little on this affair, fearing to be accused of once again failing to hunt down terrorists on their way to wreak disaster. However since May, whenever a foreign freighter chugs into any American port, the Coast Guard makes sure to bring out Geiger counters before it is cleared for entry.



DEBKAfile ’sWashington sources reveal that the fuss and ado around “Palermo Senator” was the real reason for vice president Richard Cheney being consigned to a secure place on the night of Monday, September 9.

14 September: The searches that Geiger counter-packing FBI agents conducted on the Liberian-registered freighter Palermo Senator that steamed into New York on Monday, September 9, left no doubt that the United States has strong suspicions or credible information - that Iraq or the al Qaeda terrorist organization – or both - have nuclear weapons. Only recently have US port authorities taken to examining incoming merchant vessels for radiation.
On September 12, members of the US Nuclear Emergency Security Team – NEST and Navy SEALS were still clambering over the decks and holds of the Palermo Senator, which was marooned off-shore, south of Long Island, guarded by Coast Guard vessels and US Navy warships. They faced the task of searching through 2,600 20-ft-long containers.

Suspicion was first aroused when unexplained noises issued from several cargo holds after The Palermo Senator docked in New York. The ship was diverted to Port Newark, New Jersey, to be checked for stowaways. When low radiation traces were detected, it was escorted six miles (10 kilometers) out to sea for further examination.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly ’s counter-terrorism and maritime sources report that US authorities became alarmed when they learned that the ship had taken on its container cargo for the United States at the Italian hub port of Gioia Tauro on August 25. This port, situated on the southern Italian coast near the Straits of Messina, has long been on the “high risk” watch list of US counter-terrorism agencies and the US Coast Guard. Small container ships from the Black Sea, Mediterranean,Middle East, North Africa and Italy use the port, which has the distinction of having been revealed as the preferred transit point for al Qaeda fighters, senior commanders, weapons and nuclear, chemical -- and possibly biological – materials on the move.

On November 30, 2001, DEBKA-Net-Weekly broke the story that, a month earlier, a 43-year-old Egyptian stowaway named Rigk Amid Farid had been caught at Gioia Touro port aboard the German vessel Ipex Emperor. He was ensconced in a container that had been converted into a luxurious suite complete with a comfortable bed, small kitchen, cellular telephones and enough food, water and batteries for three weeks. Canadian passports and entry permits for security men and mechanics to New York’s Kennedy airport, Newark airport and O’Hare airport in Chicago were also discovered in his suite.

An investigation showed the container-suite had been loaded on the Ipex Emperor at Egypt’sPort Said and painted over to disguise it as the property of the giant Danish Maersk Sealand container company, which it replaced.
With Europe still asleep at the wheel five weeks after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, an Italian court ordered the stowaway released on bail. He disappeared without a trace, denying authorities a golden opportunity to discover how al Qaeda’s human cargo container scheme worked.

When the same sort of unexplained noises emitted from containers aboard thePalermo Senator, the FBI agents’ first thought was that they had finally found the 40-man al Qaeda terrorist squad reported heading for Los Angeles by ship and never traced.

The decision to order the ship to Port Newark and call up NEST was taken to ward off any risk of a mega-terror attack on New York during the 9/11 commemoration ceremonies.