Four men who were arrested after military operatives swooped on a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary have revealed they are Nigerian and Liberian.
Samuel Jolumi, 26, Ishola Sunday, 27, Toheeb Popoola, 26, and Joberto McGee, 20, are accused of threatening crew on the Grande Tema ship 11 days after boarding in Nigeria.
The ship’s operator said the men were detained after the Special Boat Service (SBS) were airlifted on to the vessel, which was carrying toxic chemicals.
The men appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today charged with one count each of affray, by threatening violence.
The hearing was adjourned while prosecutors consider amending the charges to ones under maritime law.
All four of the defendants spoke only to confirm their particulars, with McGee giving his nationality as Liberian and the others saying they are Nigerian.
The 71,000-tonne ship set off from Lagos, Nigeria, on December 10.
After becoming aware alleged intruders were roaming the ship, the crew holed themselves up in the bridge and kept control of the vessel.
Essex Police was called at around 9.15am on Friday to a call relating to the safety of the crew on board the Grande Tema.
A dozen heavily armed Special Boat Service commando’s abseiled from a helicopter on to a cargo ship on a daring mission to end the hostage drama.
Under cover of darkness, the troops swung on to the deck of the 770ft Grande Tema to tackle the stowaways who allegedly were weilding iron- bars.
As their Royal Navy Merlin helicopter hovered overhead, the SBS team – armed with assault rifles – rounded up the men and locked them in a cabin before freeing the ship’s 27 Italian and Filipino sailors.
Once the mission – understood to have been codenamed Operation Buckthorn – was complete, the troops were joined by police officers who arrested the stowaways.
SBS boarded the ship and detained the four people at around 23:00 on Friday night in a 20-minute operation – 14 hours after the authorities were first alerted.
The vessel was sailing in circles in the Thames Estuary until the SBS unit were helicoptered onto the ship.
It was not until 4.20am on Saturday that the vessel docked at the Port of Tilbury in Essex, according to MarineTraffic.com.
The ship’s operator, Grimaldi Lines, said there were no reports of injuries.
Spokesman Paul Kyprianou told reporters that the SBS descended on to the ship by helicopter before the men were arrested.
Paul Kyprianou said: ‘Just before the Special Forces made their intervention, we were asked to switch off all the lights.
‘Then they stormed aboard and the stowaways were put in a cabin. Then another helicopter landed on the ship with six police officers on board.
Special Boat Service commandos abseiled from a helicopter on to a cargo ship in a daring mission to end a hostage drama in the English Channel
‘The whole operation took about 20 minutes. Everything went smoothly. They [the crew] are just glad they are safe. You can imagine.’
The defendants, all of no fixed address, were remanded in custody, to appear at the same court on December 31.
The four men in their 20s who were arrested after military operatives swooped on a cargo ship (picture) in the Thames Estuary have revealed they are Nigerian and Liberian
The men appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today charged with one count each of affray, by threatening violence.
The hearing was adjourned while prosecutors consider amending the charges to ones under maritime law.
All four of the defendants spoke only to confirm their particulars, with McGee giving his nationality as Liberian and the others saying they are Nigerian.
The 71,000-tonne ship set off from Lagos, Nigeria, on December 10.
After becoming aware alleged intruders were roaming the ship, the crew holed themselves up in the bridge and kept control of the vessel.
Essex Police was called at around 9.15am on Friday to a call relating to the safety of the crew on board the Grande Tema.
A dozen heavily armed Special Boat Service commandos abseiled from a helicopter on to a cargo ship on a daring mission to end the hostage drama
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