Suspected Hijack in the English Channel - 7 Stowaways Arrested
- ASKET Operations Team
- Oct 24, 2020
- 1 min read
Seven suspects have been detained after a suspected hijacking involving stowaways on a tanker off the Isle of Wight.
UK special forces completed the operation in nine minutes, BBC Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale said.
Military assistance had been requested after the stowaways on board the Liberian-registered Nave Andromeda reportedly became violent.
All 22 crew members, who were locked in the ship's citadel, are safe.
The Ministry of Defence called the incident a "suspected hijacking" and said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorised the operation in response to a police request.
He said members of the Special Boat Service based at Poole, in Dorset, were involved in the operation, which also featured six helicopters.
A team of Royal Navy divers were also flown in one of the Royal Navy helicopters in case the vessel had been mined but it had not.
Concerns over the crew's welfare were raised at 10:04 GMT when the vessel was six miles off Bembridge, police said.
A spokesman said "verbal threats" had been made towards the crew.
A three-mile exclusion zone was put in place around the vessel.
Richard Meade, editor of shipping news journal Lloyd's List, had earlier said there were thought to have been seven stowaways on board.
He said it was believed they had become violent towards the crew after they attempted to detain them in a cabin.
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