Souvenir briefly shuts down LA port, cruise terminal
The discovery of an apparent hand grenade in a cruise ship passenger's bag Monday caused the shut down of shipping traffic at the Port of Los Angeles and the evacuation of the cruise terminal for nearly an hour.
The precautionary shutdown of the ports' main shipping channel was called after U.S. Coast Guard officers conducting a regular security sweep of the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center were alerted to the bag by an explosives detection dog at 8:30 a.m.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and the port's police force responded to assist the Coast Guard in evacuating the terminal.
At about 9 a.m., all vessel traffic in the port's main channel was ordered halted by the Coast Guard, including an inbound containership which was redirected to an anchorage outside the port.
An X-ray of the bag revealed an object inside that was the size and shape of a hand grenade. A closer examination of the bag revealed that the object was a piece of souvenir coral.
The Coast Guard reopened the cruise terminal and reopened the port's main channel to ship traffic around 10 a.m.
FBI agents later questioned the owner of the bag.
Souvenir briefly shuts down LA port, cruise terminal
