₦airaland Forum

johnie:
I didn't know she was that old.

First encountered her when her view on developments in the society used to be sought by NTA.

Thought she was a sociologist.

She will be missed.

sayisayi:
Latest is that these 4 men collected four iron bars and threatened to harm the crew, who ran to bridge of the ship. The boat is now surrounded by 3 police boats and helicopter.

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".

Crew holed up on Thames ship as migrants threaten staff

17:07, UK, Friday 21 December 2018

A group of migrants has been found on a cargo container ship in the Thames Estuary and is threatening the crew, demanding to be taken to the coast.

Authorities are dealing with the ongoing incident where the group was discovered stowed away on the 236-metre long cargo ship, the Grande Tema.

An official source has told Sky News that authorities are currently trying to resolve the situation, which has been ongoing for several hours.

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

Maritime navigational tracking sites show the vessel circling around a position north east of Margate.

Police say officers are dealing with the incident and it is not being treated as a "hostage, piracy or terror-related incident".

An Essex Police statement said: "We continue to deal with a complex incident on board a vessel that is in the Thames Estuary close to the Essex and Kent borders.

"This follows a call relating to the safety of crew on board at around 9.15am today, Friday, December 21.

"We have received no reports that anyone has been harmed and don't believe they are at risk. We are not treating this as either a hostage, piracy or terror related incident.

"We are working closely with our partners to resolve this incident as quick as possible.

‘Armed migrants holding crew hostage on cargo ship’ in Thames estuary

Joe Roberts
Friday 21 Dec 2018 4:24 pm

A group of stowaway migrants are allegedly threatening crew on a cargo ship with iron bars. Essex police said they have received no reports of anyone at risk, but a spokesman for the ship company says four armed stowaways have escaped and are threatening staff. The ‘ongoing incident’ is happening on an Italian vessel called the Grande Tema, which is currently off the coast of Margate in Kent.

The ship reportedly set off from Lagos in Nigeria last Monday. A Grimaldi Lines spokesman said: ‘Four stowaways have escaped and are threatening staff with iron bars on board the Grande Tema cargo ship close to the Kent border in the Thames estuary.’ Essex Police said they are continuing to deal with the ‘complex’ situation close to the Kent border. ‘This follows a call relating to the safety of crew on board at around 9.15am today, Friday, December 21,’ the force said.

‘We have received no reports that anyone has been harmed and don’t believe they are at risk. We are not currently treating this as either a hostage, piracy or terror related incident. ‘We are working closely with our partners to resolve this incident as quick as possible. ‘We are not in a position to provide any details about who is on board at this stage.’

According to monitoring site Marine Traffic, the Grande Tema appears to be going around in circles off the Kent coast. The Dover Shipping Strait Facebook page posted earlier: ‘BREAKING: Piracy in the Thames Estuary…. ‘Reports coming in of stowaways aboard Grande Tema threatening the crew. Incident is ongoing.’

Nige Scutt runs the page and told The Sun: ‘I had calls from two separate sources. One said it was stowaways on board. ‘But the other said that stowaways had come out and made their presence known and have taken over areas of the ship or the vessel itself and threatened the crew in the process. ‘If that is the case then that is piracy. You normally hear of this off the Horn of Africa – not the Thames Estuary.’

mfm04622:
They nearly retained it next season. Losing in the finals

mfm04622:
They nearly retained it next season. Losing in the finals

dfrost:
With Finidi George. Good morning naptu2

Abuheekmat:
Kanu won champions league? ?