what we do know is the ship comedy andromeda, sailed from nigeria some three weeks ago. it appears there we re three weeks ago. it appears there were a number of stowaways on board. crucially, we don t know what their motive is. it could be something as straightforward as seeking political asylu m straightforward as seeking political asylum in the uk or it could be something more sinister. but what is clear is at some stage, the crew became aware of these stowaways on board, felt to an extent threatened and therefore locked themselves up in the citadel. so primary concern has to be for the safety of the crew and there could be anywhere between 15-20 and there could be anywhere between 15 20 crew members on board the greek owned ship. of course, the safety of the ship itself other ships in the vicinity will also be a concern to the authorities dealing with the situation at the moment. concern to the authorities dealing with the situation at the momentlj suppose with the situation at the
duncan, we have this request for military support, what else can you tell us? well, lots of developments all day long. let me take you through it chronologically, starting with when the ship arrived in the solent. that was about 9am this morning. we have been told by sources that the crew knew there we re sources that the crew knew there were some stowaways on board. don t know how they knew how many there we re know how they knew how many there were but there were some stowaways on board. the ship had been sailing from lagos in nigeria to southampton behind me with a consignment of oil. at around behind me with a consignment of oil. ataround 9am, behind me with a consignment of oil. at around 9am, these stowaways a p pa re ntly at around 9am, these stowaways apparently became violent towards the crew. the crew then locked themselves in what is called a citadel, a safe room on board the ship, designed to help protect them from pirates on the high seas. then the crew managed to contact
whitehall saying the situation on the tanker is over. whether that is a peaceful resolution or whether the military of the special forces have been involved, we simply don t know. just to backtrack on the background to this, the andromeda had been en route from nigeria to southampton when this incident unfolded around about nine o clock this morning, about nine o clock this morning, about five miles off the coast of the isle of wight. the crew had known there were about seven stowaways on boa rd known there were about seven stowaways on board and for some reason around about nine o clock these stowaways became violent, according to bbc sources, towards the crew, which made the crew retreat to a room, a secure room on board the ship to lock themselves in where they raised the alarm. they we re where they raised the alarm. they were told helicopters were on their way and the hm coastguard sent two helicopters to circle overhead. tonight there s been a lot of helicopter activity over our
country in the world to impose a national lockdown back in march. many other countries viewed italy as a model. britain followed exactly two weeks later but this time the government is being more cautious, mindful that the economy is already forecast to shrink here by 10% this year and there were protests over the weekend over tougher measures. the prime minister today said this month will be very difficult for italians with soaring cases and biting measures but he said if they tough it out, this month s sacrifice could save christmas. the latest update on the tanker off the isle of wight, seven people had been detained. earlier military assistance was asked for by the local hampshire police. we understand that the operation to ta ke understand that the operation to take the tanker was over in seven. in nine minutes. nine minutes and
the nave andromeda is in waters off the isle of wight. it s thought stowaways were causing problems for the crew of the vessel, which had left lagos in nigeria in early october. let s talk to our correspondent duncan kennedy, who is nearby at lee on the solent. a dramatic day on the andromeda, what more can you tell us? it really has been an extraordinary few hours, ending with a special forces raid on this tanker behind me. that raid involved four helicopters with themes of what is called sports special boat service, sps, based about 50 miles down the coast and landed on the deck of the vessel and therefore helicopters and used what was described as overwhelming force to retake the ship. they detained seven individuals. we are told the