NEWARK, New Jersey: A cargo ship from Pakistan carrying stowaways — some believed to be dead — arrived at Port Newark, NJ, The New York Post reported on Wednesday.The newspaper said US Customs agents and Coast Guard personnel took charge of the scene after Port Authority police swarmed the port at Berth 57 to meet the ship, a PA source said.
The container, which a manifest said was carrying machine parts to Norfolk, Va., was loaded aboard The Villa D’Aquarius in India, Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said. PA police were tipped off to the stowaways aboard the ship, but officials did not say how. More than a dozen ambulances are on the pier.
A PA police spokesman did not immediately respond to calls. Police were notified about 7:20am, a law enforcement source said.“There is a faint knocking coming out of a container very close to the bottom of the pile.” “It’s going to take a while to get all those containers unloaded to get to this one,” the official said. The ship has been at sea since June 11, after making stops in both Egypt and Pakistan.