Four stowaways found on a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary have been detained after the vessel’s crew was threatened, says BBC news.
What happened?
Stowaways on a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary have threatened the crew, who have locked themselves on the bridge of the vessel.
The ship’s operator has said the four stowaways wanted the ship to navigate close to the coast and were armed with iron tubes they had found on board.
The 71,000-ton Grande Tema is licensed to carry extremely hazardous cargo, which could be toxic, flammable or explosive.
It had been making a routine 4,400-mile, 11-day trip from Lagos, Nigeria. The stowaways are thought to have boarded there or during three stops on the West African coast.
Call for force
The force was called at around 9.15am on Friday relating to the safety of the crew on board the cargo ship.
Essex Police said they were responding to a “complex incident” on board the vessel off the coast of Essex and Kent. The vessel was secured shortly after 23:00 GMT on Friday – almost 14 hours after the force was first called.
Four men who were on the ship have since been held under the Immigration Act, the force added.
Police previously said the situation was not being treated as a hostage, piracy or terror-related issue.
SBS commandos
Theresa May decided to call in the SBS commandos following a 12-hour stand-off with the pirates.
Police, coast guard, and marine units were on standby before the SBS was called in.
SBS commandos stormed the hijacked container ship near Margate and arrested four migrants who seized control from the crew.
Vessel owner’s reaction
GPS trackers showed the 71,000-tonne ship, due to dock at Tilbury, sailing in circles in the Thames Estuary. It had set off from Lagos, Nigeria, on 10 December. 
Grimaldi Group, which owns the vessel, said the four stowaways were discovered on board four days ago.
They were put under surveillance in a cabin but escaped earlier and made threats to the ship’s master as the vessel approached Tilbury, urging him to get close to the coast.
Grimaldi spokesman Paul Kyprianou said: “The vessel was coming from Nigeria and was bound to Tilbury and those four stowaways were in the cabin.”
They managed to escape from the cabin and started to threaten the ship’s 27 crew with iron bars and other makeshift weapons they picked up on board. They requested the master of the vessel to navigate very close to the coast.
Kyprianou said, “That request was probably because they wanted to jump and reach the British coast.”
He said the crew reacted and they locked themselves in the bridge of the vessel and so they are safe and had no injuries.
Mr. Kyprianou added: “It’s a small group but obviously you can understand it would be scary.”
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Ref: BBCNews, BreakingNews, TheSun
