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2020/10/26 24 hour corner
【2020. 10. 23 United Kingdom】
“A day went by without a hitch, thanks for the efforts of the Royal Navy …?” A very nervous but unbelievable “suspected tank hijacking case” occurred off the south coast of England on the 25th. A Greek tanker Andromeda flying the Liberian flag issued an “emergency call for help” in the waters of the west side of the Isle of Wight north of the English Channel on Sunday morning, confirming that it was threatened by “unidentified persons” on board the ship. After the Greek shipowner and the United Kingdom coordinated the relevant warning, the elite special forces of the Royal Navy, the Special Small Boat Unit (SBS), were finally approached by the elite special forces (SBS) of the Royal British Navy under cover of the dark night and the harsh walrus, and boarded the ship on 9 September. Seven people who boarded illegally were detained within minutes and all of them were removed from the crisis without injury. After the incident, the British Secretary of Defense and the British Home Secretary respectively praised the “heroic SBS troops” in a high-profile action. However, the shipowner and crew denied that the Sea Terror was suspected of “hijacking the ship”. Instead, 7 people infiltrated on board from Nigeria. “Illegal immigrants”.
The stowaway turning point in the Isle of Wight incident made Home Secretary Priti Patel (Priti Patel), who was eager to publicize the credit, a bit embarrassed. Because this is not only the second time in the last two years, SBS has dealt with the alert of “transnational freighter smugglers” in the English Channel. According to data from the British Home Office, from January 2020 to the present, illegal immigration from the English Channel The total number of clients seized has exceeded 7,500, the scandalous increase is 394% from the same period last year .
The Daily Telegraph, a leading British right-wing newspaper, believes that although the world is still sick today, the British economy has fallen into unprecedented recession and uncertain chaos due to the inability to effectively control the epidemic and the severe unemployment. However, among transnational serpentine groups and smugglers, they strongly encourage and encourage illegal immigrants to cross the sea on the grounds that “once the Brexit process comes into force in 2021, it will be more difficult to cross the borders of the United Kingdom “. Thus, when Anglo-French and Anglo-European relations are stalled due to the possible breakdown of Brexit economic and trade negotiations, there is more, more out of control, and more isolated problems of smuggling across the Straits without help. mutual of allies. But it was Battelle, the Home Secretary of the “Brexit super hawks,” who generated unexpectedly strong pressure.
The Nave Andromeda tanker, which issued a distress alert on the 25th, is a first-class long-distance tanker (LR1) owned by the Greek cargo ship management company Navios and can carry 500,000 barrels of crude when fully loaded.
According to the shipping company, the Andromeda is on October 6, 2020,AfricaLagos, Nigeria’s largest city, will depart from the port. It is expected to dock in the southern UK port of Southampton in an “empty state” on the morning of the 26th. It was agreed to ship refined gasoline products from oil giant ExxonMobil.
Nigeria, which has abundant oil resources, is currently the largest oil country in Africa with the largest production capacity. However, due to corruption, the central government’s over-reliance on the oil dollar economy, and the inability to upgrade professional technology, the Nigerian oil industry has always lacked sufficient refining capacity. This not only keeps mining costs high and erodes profits, but also embarrassing situations in which the national energy supply is scarce, insufficient and even restricted.
When Andromeda left Lagos, it was at the beginning of the “#EndSARS” campaign against police violence in Nigeria. Social unrest and the threat of military repression by the central government have plunged Nigeria into a high degree of turmoil. Unexpectedly, when the army was in crisis, seven illegal immigrants boarded the ship in the dark from the commercial port and followed the “tip of the wheel” at the bottom of the hull. At the entrance and exit of the “helm”, the ocean tanker got into it without knowing it.
“When Andromeda went out to sea, there were 22 crew members on the ship, and 7 stowaways who boarded secretly.” The Daily Telegraph, which received exclusive news from the shipowner and the UK Home Office, said:
“The tanker sailed peacefully in the Atlantic for more than 20 days … 22 crew members did not seem to have noticed the” smugglers on board. “As they were about to call at the port, everyone was surprised that there were 7 guests uninvited. Board the ship. “
After discovering that stowaways had boarded the ship, the captain and crew of the Andromeda provided 7 people with food and drink, then reported to the shipping company and the British government. However, according to the procedures, the captain must “restrict and guard” the access of the seven people who boarded illegally to prevent him and the shipping company from becoming involved in criminal disputes for “human and snake trafficking.” However, the seven Nigerian smugglers who were locked in the cabin showed extremely fierce and serious resistance. In addition to breaking the ship’s window and trying to escape the confined space, the emotional and menacing smugglers were even more intimidated. To hurt the crew “everyone dies together”.
Despite the higher number, the captain of the Andromeda, who judged that “the ship is a serious threat to safety,” led the entire crew to hide in the engine room at 10 am on October 25 at eastern waters of the Isle of Wight in southern England. Shelter space “and sent a maritime call” Mayday “for help from the British side.
After the Mayday signal was issued, the British government immediately tuned the entire case to an “alleged pirate hostage-taking incident” and launched a 10-hour interagency security coordination meeting and assessment process. threats. In the end, with the consent of the British police and the shipping company, the British Ministry of Defense, which was invited to take action, sent the elite SBS units of the Royal Navy to take a helicopter at around 8:00 p.m. on the 25th, and fly the Andromeda tanker captured in a surprise attack at sea. Unexpectedly, the seven smugglers not only did not react or even resist, but the boarding operation was completed in 9 minutes, successfully ending this troubled “maritime crisis” by day and night.
“No one was killed or injured in the action! This is the result of the brave actions of the British military brothers.” After the Andromeda crisis was lifted, the British Ministry of Defense and the Home Office also issued messages of celebration. However, according to the Financial Times, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph, the Greek shipping company denied that “this is a maritime piracy / hijacking incident” because smugglers are on the sidelines of emotional and threatening words. It did not really affect or violate the safety of the crew, the ship and the cargo. “The whole point is that the captain is cautious and the hostage crisis didn’t really happen.”
Although the shipping company’s statement may be closer to the “full case”, on the other hand, it also revealed that the operational team is extremely sensitive to “cost issues” such as marine insurance premiums, safety litigation and scheduling contracts. shipments. This is probably also because low energy demand and low oil price pressure caused by the global epidemic have affected the shipping planning of the tanker industry.
“The Andromeda incident is incredible … but it’s also familiar,” The Guardian said. In fact, in December 2018 a situation similar to the current situation at sea was also staged with almost the same set of scripts. At that time, an Italian freighter, the Grande Tema, which also departed from Lagos, issued a distress call at the mouth of the Thames and discovered that “four Nigerian stowaways with security threats were embarking and invading.” In the end, the whole case was also sent by SBS Airborne, which solved the maritime panic in no time.
According to a post-event report by “BBC”, although the four stowaways from the Grand Tema did not resort to overt violence, they sprayed urine and splashed feces at the crew and made “cut throat gestures” after learning they were unable to dock and disembark as they wished. Threatened Thus, the four people in the case have been sentenced by a British court in January 2020 to prison terms ranging from 1 year and 4 months to 2 years and 8 months.
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