Stowaways ‘attempt to hijack oil tanker’ off coast of Isle of Wight
Police are dealing with what's being called an 'ongoing incident' on board the Nave Andromeda which is anchored near Sandown Bay.
Stowaways have been discovered on board a huge oil tanker off the coast of the Isle of Wight, sparking a major incident.
Police are dealing with what they are calling an ‘ongoing incident’ on board the Nave Andromeda which is anchored near Sandown Bay.
According to Sky News, seven stowaways were discovered on-board the Libyan registered tanker.
There have been unconfirmed reports the group may have become violent and tried to seize control of the vessel as it approached the UK.
The crew are thought to be sheltering in secure areas. It’s not yet known if anyone has been injured.
Lawyers for the oil tanker have told the BBC the incident is ‘100% not a hijacking’ and it’s been known the stowaways were on board for some days.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said:’We are aware and dealing with an ongoing incident on board a vessel which is situated south of the Isle of Wight.’
The tanker was supposed to dock in Southampton this morning. It is understood the port received contact and did not refuse it entry to the harbour.
But crew on-board issued a mayday signal at around 9am, according to Isle of Wight Radio.
The MP for the island, Bob Seely, said the incident would be treated as ‘marine counter-terrorism’ and a meeting of the government Cobra emergency committee would be held to discuss the response.
He told Sky News: ‘Despite being told not to drop anchor, the skipper has dropped anchor and the ship may be now under the control of stowaways on the ship.
‘I suspect because of the nature of this it will be treated as marine counter-terrorism and the number of people in the UK who do that are very limited and the relevant units will be looking at options no doubt as to what we could be doing.’
The Nave Andromeda is 228 metres long and could be carrying up to 42,000 tonnes of crude oil. It left Nigeria on October 5.
Satellite monitoring systems have recorded the vessel ‘zigzagging’ around in the water on its approach to Southampton before it dropped anchor.
An exclusion zone has been set up around the tanker with all other vessels being told to stay away. The coastguard helicopter left Gosport earlier and has been seen circling in the sky above.
A HM Coastguard spokesperson said: ‘We are currently assisting Hampshire Constabulary with an incident on board a vessel situated off the Isle of Wight.
‘The search and rescue helicopters from Lee on Solent and Lydd are in attendance.’
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said it is aware of the incident while a Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed there was no military involvement.
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