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British police and coast guard units responded on Sunday to an incident aboard a tanker in the English Channel.
The owner of the boat attributed the problem to stowaways and said it was not a hijacking.
The incident occurred on the Libyan-registered tanker Nave Andromeda, which was scheduled to dock in the port of Southampton on Sunday morning.
Uncredited / AP
The incident reportedly took place aboard the Libyan-registered tanker Nave Andromeda south of Sandown on the Isle of Wight, according to Isle of Wight Radio.
Pat Adamson, a spokesman for the ship’s owner, Navios Maritime Acquisition Corp., described the situation as a “security incident” that involved stowaways and said the tanker was not hijacked. It will be up to authorities to comment further, he said.
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“We are aware of and are dealing with an ongoing incident aboard a ship that is situated south of the Isle of Wight,” Hampshire police said in a statement.
“We will provide you with further updates when we are in a position to do so.”
Two coast guard helicopters responded to the incident and authorities established an exclusion zone around the tanker.
Uncredited / AP
British police are investigating an undisclosed incident aboard an oil tanker in the English Channel.
The Andromeda Ship left Lagos, Nigeria, on October 6 and was expected to dock in Southampton, England, at 10.30am on Sunday, according to the ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com.
The tanker has been circling an area about 5 miles southeast of Sandown on the Isle of Wight for the past few hours, tracking data shows.
Chris Parry, a retired Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy, told the BBC that based on the information available, he suspects that the stowaways ignored the crew’s instructions as the ship approached the port, and the crew retreated to a safe area of the ship known as “the citadel” to retain control of the ship.
“My guess is they have some rogue elements running around the ship,” Parry said.
“They don’t want to go into shallow water until they have secured those people. That’s a really prudent thing to do. “
Bob Seely, who represents the Isle of Wight in Parliament, said the British government is likely to call a meeting of its emergency committee to discuss its response.
Problems on the ship are of particular concern because of the tanker’s cargo and because the ship left West Africa, he said.
“I suspect that due to the nature of this, it will be treated as a marine counterterrorism,” Seely said. Sky News. “The number of people in the UK doing that is very limited, and the relevant units will certainly look for options on what we might be doing.”
The Home Office, which is responsible for law enforcement and immigration in the UK, said it was aware of the incident.
The UK Chamber of Shipping said it was “in contact with the relevant authorities”.
“We believe it is likely related to stowaways on board, but we are awaiting further information,” the trade association said in a statement.
