Ship detained over high radiation levels headed to Tanzania

Health officials have cleared a ship that had been held at the port of Mombasa over alleged high radiation levels.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) on Monday said the Danish-flagged MV Seago Pireaus sailed away on Sunday morning after all the 24 crew and port staff were tested for radiation and found to be fit.

Head of Corporate Affairs Bernard Osero said no nuclear substance was found in the container as had been reported but instead the ship had assorted hardware goods.

Earlier reports indicated that the ship had disappeared from the port after the Ministry of Health issued a directive to officials to have it quarantined on grounds of emission of radiation.

“It is notified for the general information of the public that in view of the serious threat posed to the health and lives of Kenyans by the emission of radiation by radioactive or nuclear material on board the Seago Piraeus voy 1475 b/ 214735979,” read part of a statement from the Health Ministry last week.

The statement said, “The Director-General for Health and Port Health Officer in charge in Mombasa are hereby directed to quarantine the Seago Pileus voy 1478 b/ 214735979 for purposes of inspecting any part thereof and anything therein and conduct medical examination on any person on board and require such person to answer any question in accordance with Section 60 and 62 of the Public Health Act.”

The ministry also directed the Director-General of Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority to inspect the contents of the containers on the ship to determine the radioactive material in question, possible quantity and position within the cargo container.

But Osero said the ship left for Tanzania where it was scheduled to discharge its cargo, including the container which arrived in Mombasa as transhipment cargo.

According to a circular issued last year by the Head of the Civil Service Joseph Kinyua, KPA is the lead agency of the multi-agency team that operates within the port.

It has been mandated to coordinate all activities inside the port, which include issues of health, inspection and taxation of cargo.

“The 24 ship crew members and KPA staff who handled the container at the yard were subjected to tests and were found to be fit. They were also stable and cheerful. The crew members left on board the ship and will be subjected to further test on arrival at the next port of call,” Osero said.

The container ship christened MV Seago Pireaus arrived on December 13 from the port of Salalah in Oman. 

The ship started discharging on December 14 but was reloaded on December 15 after the detection of high radiation reading on the container detectors.

The vessel had loaded its cargo in India and the particular container was detected with high radiation than normal, leading to its isolation to allow for tests on the crew. 

After the medical test on the crew turned clear, the container was reloaded on the ship which sailed away at 4am on Sunday.

“The container was reloaded on the ship on December 15 after it was detected to have higher radiation than the normal levels. It was allowed to sail away by the Ministry of Health after medical checks on the crew members,” Osero explained.

Port official said there was noise when the container was driven through radiation detectors and that was when thorough medical checks were carried out on crew members and port handlers.