Makeshift lantern created bomb scare
June 12, 2008 · Updated 11:33 AM
The suspicious device on a boat tied to the Southworth ferry dock that effectively stopped all ferry service to the dock for several hours last week was apparently a makeshift lantern, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Members of the WSPs Interagency Bomb Squad responded to the dock shortly before 10 p.m. on June 10 after a 12-foot aluminum skiff was discovered beached near the terminal.
Inside the boat authorities had discovered a motorcycle-sized battery connected via wires to a small bottle containing an unknown liquid.
The item was made safe, then removed from the beach.
While they inspected the boat, authorities closed the terminal to ferry service until approximately 3 a.m.
According to a WSP press release, the liquid has now been determined by the State Patrol Crime lab to have been a saline solution, most likely saltwater.
Detectives contacted the owner of the boat, who said he was crabbing that evening when the boats engine began malfunctioning, and after several hours it drifted into the ferry terminal.
He said the mysterious battery/bottle device was a homemade lantern.
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