Seven suspects arrested after tanker incident in England

 

On the evening of Sunday 25 October, seven suspects were arrested during an operation by the British armed forces to take control of an oil tanker in the south of England. The crew had been threatened by stowaways on board. This military intervention put an end to a crisis situation that had started about ten hours earlier, off the Isle of Wight. “In response to a request from the police, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of the Interior authorized members of the armed forces to board a ship in the English Channel to ensure the safety of lives and of a ship which was the subject of a suspicion of piracy ”, tweeted the Ministry of Defense. “The armed forces took control of the boat and seven people were arrested”, according to the same source.

The 22 crew members are “safe and sound,” Hampshire Police said in a statement, adding that the investigation was continuing to establish the full circumstances of the incident. Police said law enforcement was alerted at around 10 a.m. (GMT) on Sunday morning of the worrying situation of the crew of the tanker Nave Andromeda, which was off the Isle of Wight, south of the ‘England. Stowaways were on board the ship and threatened the crew, according to the same source, who earlier in the day had referred to “verbal threats”. Departing from Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, the ship was on its way to Southampton. An exclusion zone around the ship had been established since Sunday morning for security reasons.

A comparable incident in December 2018

According to the Minister of Defense Ben Wallace, the operation was carried out “under a dark sky and a deteriorating weather”. The Minister praised the courage of the personnel who intervened. “People are safe tonight because of their efforts,” he tweeted. Interior Minister Priti Patel praised the “rapid and decisive action of our police and our armed forces who were able to regain control of the situation, guaranteeing the safety of all those on board” .

 

In response to a police request, the Defence Secretary and Home Secretary authorised Armed Forces personnel to board a ship in the English Channel to safeguard life and secure a ship that was subject to suspected hijacking. (1/2)

— Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) October 25, 2020

 

The law firm Tatham & Co, representing the owners of the vessel, assured the BBC “100%” that it was not an act of piracy. According to the BBC, citing a source close to the shipping company, the stowaways, whose presence on board had been known for a while, became violent towards the crew, who locked themselves in a secure part of the ship to take cover. The coast guard, who mobilized two helicopters, lent a hand to the police force, said a spokeswoman. Local Isle of Wight Radio initially reported a possible piracy attempt aboard the 228-meter Liberian-registered vessel carrying 42,000 tonnes of crude oil.

The United Kingdom had recently been faced with a similar incident. In December 2018, four stowaways were arrested on a container ship from Nigeria after threatening the crew with iron bars. The police intervened to put an end to a blocking situation where the boat had made circles in the water for 14 hours in the Thames estuary.

Source

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