Updated Dec. 14
The Steamship Authority received bomb threats Thursday afternoon via email.
The emails came in “at approximately 1 pm today, Dec. 13, 2018, referencing the Nantucket terminal and Mashpee reservations office,” a press release stated. “The threats demanded payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for not detonating an explosive device that was allegedly left at the facility named in the email.”
Steamship Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll said the emails demanded $20,000 apiece for the facilities threatened. Driscoll declined to release the emails, citing an ongoing investigation.
“Both the Nantucket terminal and the Mashpee reservations office were searched by authority staff and local authorities, and were deemed safe,” the release stated. “Staff also performed searches of all of the authority’s other vessels and facilities in accordance with the authority’s emergency procedures, which are regularly reviewed and on which drills are regularly held. During those searches, an unattended purse was discovered on board the MV Island Home while it was docked in Vineyard Haven. The purse was determined to be a lost-and-found item and will be returned to its owner; due to the discovery of this unattended bag, there was a brief delay in that vessel’s loading for its 2:30 pm departure.”
Businesses and schools across Massachusetts and the nation were subjected to similar threats, according to Massachusetts State Police Lt. Tom Ryan.
Marc Hanover, the Steamship Authority’s Vineyard board member, said the FBI is part of the law enforcement medley investigating the threats to the Steamship Authority. Investigators were “in the process of trying to trace the emails,” he said.
Updated to include information from police and Hanover. -Ed.
caught in the middle of this, waiting for the 2:30 boat off island. It is a shame that society has come to this. Just more of the slippery slope the world is in. We can always hope for Christmas people can be nice to one another and try to show what the season is all about. Just a thought.
Need a good Bomb sniffing Dog
It seems this was part of a wider pattern of bomb threats issued across the US yesterday, also asking for 20K in bitcoin. https://gellerreport.com/2018/12/wave-bomb-threats-usa.html/
These threats must come as a welcome relief to the SSA. Finally, they have an excuse other than crappy, ill-designed boats, to blame for all the cancellations. How convenient.
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