Special forces retake cargo ship after migrants threatened staff

Sky sources say Special Boat Service operatives fast-roped from helicopters on to the ship and four men have been arrested.


03:57, UK,
Saturday 22 December 2018

By David Mercer, news reporter

Special forces have regained control of a cargo ship off the UK's coast after a group of stowaway migrants had threatened staff on-board.


Special Boat Service (SBS) operatives from Sabre Squadron fast-roped from helicopters on to the ship which had been sailing off the Thames Estuary, sources told Sky's defence and security correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The operation lasted around 25 minutes and no-one onboard was injured.

Essex Police confirmed the vessel will now be brought safely into dock at the Port of Tilbury and four men have been arrested under the Immigration Act.

Officers boarded the 236-metre long cargo ship, called the Grande Tema, shortly after 11pm on Friday.

The ship's operator, Grimaldi Lines, had earlier reported that four stowaways armed with iron tubes had called for the crew to navigate closer to the coast.

The company's spokesman Paul Kyprianou told Sky News: "The vessel was coming from Nigeria... They managed to escape from the cabin and started threatening the crew, requesting to have the vessel navigate very close to the coast.

"We understand they wanted to jump and reach the British coast."

He added that the crew locked themselves in the bridge of the vessel after the migrants had picked up potentially harmful objects.

"They managed to get whatever they could find on the vessel... pieces of iron, tubes and things like that and this is what they used in order to threaten," Mr Kyprianou said.

"The vessel is under the command of the crew there is no question about that... the only problem is that we have four people who are free on the deck and they are threatening crew members and requesting they get close to the coast."

The vessel had been travelling eastwards through the English Channel when the migrants were discovered on Friday morning.

Maritime navigational tracking sites showed the vessel circling around a position north east of Margate in Kent.

Essex Police said they were not treating the incident as a "hostage, piracy or terror-related".

FarahAideed:
I just hope they are not Nigerians

ct2:
# letsendBuharioutofAsorock#

like for surport

FarahAideed:
I just hope they are not Nigerians

Aykush:
you blind?

mulante:
Muse: Look at me.
Capt. Phillips: Sure.
Muse: Look at me.
Capt. Phillips: Sure.
Muse: I'm the captain now.

FarahAideed:
I just hope they are not Nigerians

Aykush:
you blind?

ct2:
# letsendBuharioutofAsorock#

like for surport

brownlord:


Unfortunately, they’ll be Nigerians trying to flee their ancestral home

naptu2:
Search for the previous thread (from yesterday) for more background information on the incident. I would have posted a link to the thread but the antispam bot bans me every time I post a link.

helinues:

Early Sunday morning