Delaware River ship jumpers swim for asylum

In October 2014, state park employees just starting their workday made an unusual discovery near the former Civil War prison on Pea Patch Island: a Syrian national who had jumped ship.

“He was cold and exhausted, and they brought him back to Delaware City,” said Chief Wayne Kline of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control enforcement.

In a report released by the U.S. Coast Guard, Fadel Arab, 29 at the time, and an electrician for a Panamanian cargo ship, was reported missing at noon Oct. 22 from the ship which was headed south, leaving the United States. Kline said park officials later took Fadel into custody, passing him to Delaware State Police and eventually U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sgt. Richard Bratz of the Delaware State Police had no information on Arab or the Pea Patch Island incident, but, he said, at times the Special Operation Response Team helps maritime partners in providing boarding assistance on ships or assists with other federal agencies.

A federal law enforcement official said Arab was granted asylum in March 2015, because he feared for his life if returned to Syria.

Arab was the third Syrian national to jump from a cargo ship along the Delaware River in 2014 – the only three ship jumpers in the past five years, based on he U.S. Coast Guard officials following a Freedom of Information Act request.

In a May 2014 ship-jumping incident, two Syrians, Mohammad Khalaf and Omar Khalaf, jumped off a departing Lebanese cargo ship south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. A tugboat near the New Jersey shore spotted Mohammad in the water as he tried to get the operator's attention. Mohammad, then 23, only spoke Arabic, and he could not communicate with the tugboat operator. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment and released to Customs and Border Protection. Omar, then 18, was later found ashore while trying to break into a construction vehicle near Kilcohook National Wildlife Refuge, according to published reports. Pennsville police arrested Omar and turned him over to Homeland Security officials, reports state.

Ward Gilday, president of the Pilots' Association for the Bay and River Delaware, said ship jumpers are rare. Members of the association board ships off Cape Henlopen, helping captain and crew navigate the Delaware River to the Port of Wilmington.

Gilday said he recalls the two men who jumped ship in 2014, but he does not know of any recent incidents.

Steve Sapp, public affairs officer, for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agrees it is rare that someone jumps ship. “In the past eight years, I might be able to count on one hand how many absconders there have been. It's not common,” he said, adding from 2011-15 there were 1.6 million crew members who came through U.S. ports.

Sapp said since 2010 there have been 11 instances in which a cargo ship crewmember or someone on a cruise line has not returned to ship before departure. Countries of origin include Haiti, Burma, Indonesia, Croatia, Ethiopia, Phillipines, Bulgaria, Syria and Jamaica. Sapp said he knows of three who were sent back to their country of origin, and the remaining cases were handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officials could not be reached for comment.

While terrorism is a concern, Sapp said, the majority of people who come ashore do so for economic reasons.

“They may have friends or family here, and they want to make some money here and send it home,” he said.

When the three Syrians jumped ship in 2014, Syria was in the midst of a civil war that continues to cripple the country's economy.

Social media, such as Facebook, often plays a role in helping officials find people who have left ship and failed to return. Sapp said cruise lines and cargo ships provide names of people who have not returned to their ships, which helps officials track them down.

“We often find photos of a going away party or good luck cards in their luggage,” he said. “There are usually a lot of indications to show they are coming here permanently.”

The vetting process for crew members is stringent to prevent terrorists from entering the country, Sapp said.

“We are on the look out for terrorist activity,” he said. “If anyone is on a terror watch list, the FBI is aware, especially if it is a working crew member on a ship.”

Before traveling on a foreign vessel, a crew member must apply for a visa from a U.S. Embassy. “Anyone with suspected ties should be stopped there,” Sapp said.

Once a ship arrives at a U.S. port, officials from both the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection board the ship. The Coast Guard checks the security and safety of the ship, said Lt. Ryan Cantu of the U.S. Coast Guard; the CPB checks the cargo and crew.

“We know who's coming in before they arrive,” Sapp said.

Still, Rep. Stephen Smyk, R-Milton, there is a concern for national security along the banks of the Delaware River.

Smyk said some Middle Easterners know that jumping ship near the Delaware Memorial Bridge is one way to get to the United States. “They know they can survive the dive and then swim ashore,” he said.

Speaking about the Pea Patch Island incident, Smyk said, law enforcement knew the man found there had been part of Syrian Special Forces. The man also had a package that, Smyk said, investigators told him may have contained contact information. The package, however, was never found, he said.

Residents along the Delaware and New Jersey coasts should know there is always a potential for people jumping from ship and swimming ashore, he said.

“We know this is a weak spot, and we have to pay attention to it,” Smyk said. “All of these are dominoes that could fall in the right direction to harm us.”